Development and Validation of a Critical Incident Outcome Measure

Abstract

This paper briefly reviews the current literature in the critical incident response field (CIR) as it intersects with the employee assistance field (EAP). A specific study is presented which illuminates the lack of evidence-based research on the organizational effects arising from traumatic incidents in the workplace. This makes the case for further professional collaboration to seek consensus on uniformity of definitions, intervention and more rigorous measures to establish the degree of effectiveness and efficiency of these interventions. The goal of this paper is to present the initial theoretical construction and statistical validity of the Critical Incident Outcome Measurement Scale (CIOM). The tool was beta tested with a pilot sample of two-hundred and fifty responses. The psychometric approach utilized a latent variable approach to first define the critical incident outcome space with multiple indicators. Next the model capacity was tested to recover most of reliable variance in the item set. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis was used to select the best single indicator for an abbreviated version of this measurement tool to enhance its suitability for applied applications. The specific psychometric results are provided in the conclusion. As important as the authors believe it is to collect this data, it is not nearly as important as tending to the needs of the affected employees and employers of any traumatic event.