Psychosocial Well-Being at Work: Large-Sample Structural Validation of the Multidimensional Psychosocial Work Experience Scale for Employed Persons (MPWES)

Psychosocial working conditions are important determinants of employee health, work ability, and organizational sustainability, yet existing instruments often assess job demands, job resources, psychosocial risks, or well-being outcomes separately. This study examined the structural validity of the Multidimensional Psychosocial Work Experience Scale for Employed Persons (MPWES), an instrument designed to assess a multidimensional occupational psychosocial profile comprising workplace conditions and demands, psychosocial resources, adverse exposures, health-related experiences, and subjective functioning. A cross-sectional validation study was conducted among 1631 employees from the pharmaceutical, energy, healthcare, and administrative sectors in Latvia. Confirmatory factor analysis with the robust WLSMV estimator was used to test the predefined measurement model. The refined eight-factor model demonstrated acceptable fit in the calibration subsample (N = 400; CFI = 0.930, TLI = 0.922, RMSEA = 0.066, SRMR = 0.078) and was replicated in the held-out validation subsample (N = 1231; CFI = 0.911, TLI = 0.901, RMSEA = 0.068, SRMR = 0.067). Reliability indices were acceptable for several domains, although some factors showed modest or borderline values. Discriminant validity was supported, with all HTMT values below 0.85, and measurement invariance testing supported configural, metric, scalar, and strict invariance across samples. The findings provide initial evidence of the MPWES’s structural validity and measurement stability in the present sample. However, further studies using external validity criteria, longitudinal designs, and culturally diverse samples are needed before the scale can be considered fully validated for broader occupational and public health applications.