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. 2022 Feb 8;10(1):25.
doi: 10.1186/s40359-022-00725-8.

Validation of the Norwegian versions of the Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS) and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) in a mental health care setting

Nora Braathu  1 , Erlend Høen Laukvik  2 , Karina M Egeland  2 , Ane-Marthe Solheim Skar  2
Affiliations

Validation of the Norwegian versions of the Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS) and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) in a mental health care setting

Nora Braathu et al. BMC Psychol. .

Abstract

Background: The implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is of crucial importance in health care institutions and requires effective management from leaders. However, there is a lack of assessment tools sufficient to evaluate the degree to which the employees´ rate how well their leaders are at implementing EBPs. This emphasises the need for validated and widely used scales relevant for EBPs.

Methods: The current study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS) in a Norwegian mental health care setting.

Results: Results from confirmatory factor analyses indicate that the MLQ and ILS are valid instruments for measuring general and implementation leadership. The scales demonstrate good convergent validity. In addition, attitudes towards EBPs did not seem to be associated with the ILS and MLQ, further supporting the applicability of the instruments.

Conclusions: The two scales demonstrate good psychometric properties in a Norwegian mental health care setting, which suggests that the MLQ and ILS are valid and reliable tools for measuring leadership in an implementation setting. More research is greatly needed to disentangle the link between perceived leadership and objective measures of successful implementation of EBPs. Trial registration NSD 690,133, NSD 60,059/3/OOS.

Keywords: Evidence-based practice; Implementation climate; Implementation leadership; Implementation strategies; Mental health; PTSD; Transformational leadership.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Standardised factor loadings for the ILS. The parameters are presented as standardised path coefficients. The circular shapes represent the factors, or subscales. The square boxes below represent the items. Arrows pointing from the factors to the items are the first-order factor loadings. Arrows from the latent construct (ILS) to the subscales are the second-order factor loadings. Pers = Perseverant, Supp = Supportive, Knowl = Knowledgeable, Pro = Proactive
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Standardised factor loadings for the MLQ—The parameters are presented as standardised path coefficients. The circular shapes represent the factors, or subscales. The square boxes below represent the items. Arrows pointing from the factors to the items are the factor loadings. mlqlf = Laissez-faire, mlqmbep = Management-by-exception passive, mlqmbea = Management-by-exception active, mlqcr = Contingent Reward, mlqii = Idealised Influence, mlqim = Inspirational Motivation, mlqis = Intellectual Stimulation, mlqic = Individualised Consideration
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Correlation matrix including the ILS, MLQ and EBPAS. White squares indicate p > .05. The bar on the far right indicates the correlation between the subscales. Blue colors indicate a positive correlation, while orange colors indicate a negative correlation
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