The Instrument for Stress-Oriented Task Analysis (ISTA)

Abstract. The Instrument for Stress-Oriented Task Analysis (ISTA, Instrument zur stressbezogenen Taetigkeitsanalyse) is a German, action–theory-based instrument to measure stressors and resources in the workplace. In order to examine the psychometric properties of the ISTA variables, we conducted a meta-analysis using the job demands–resources (JD-R) model for construct validation of the instrument. The meta-analysis consisted of a maximum of 58 independent data sets in 51 studies, of which 26 have been published. Based on 565 individual means and standard deviations, 506 reliabilities, and 4,730 correlation coefficients, meta-analytical information was computed. Overall, the instrument showed good psychometric properties: The scale means were close to the theoretical mean of the scales and reliabilities were acceptable to good. The validation hypotheses were examined by analyzing the correlations of ISTA variables (stressors and resources) with psychological strain and well-being. Our hypotheses were largely supported by the data: Stressors were positively related to strain and mostly negatively related to well-being, while resources were mostly positively related to well-being and partly negatively related to strain. Moderation analyses revealed that the two versions of the ISTA, the publication status, the proportion of women, and the industrial sector of the samples had little systematic impact on the means and reliabilities of most ISTA scales as well as on correlations between ISTA scales and of ISTA scales with scales measuring psychological strain and well-being.