Validity assessment of a social support index

Area of Science:

• Psychometrics
• Social Sciences
• Health Sciences

Background:

• The social support sum-index was previously used in a Swedish longitudinal study.
• Psychometric properties require ongoing evaluation for reliable measurement.
• Social support is a crucial factor in health and well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reevaluate the psychometric properties of the social support sum-index.
• To assess the internal consistency, content validity, and construct validity of the index.
• To determine the suitability of the index for measuring social support in a Finnish population.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional survey data from 1992 involving 4853 residents of Kuopio Province, Eastern Finland.
• A randomly selected cohort of 212 men aged 50-60 years was analyzed.
• Psychometric analyses included item-total and item-item correlations, factor analysis, and assessment of content and construct validity.

Main Results:

• The 34-item social support sum-index demonstrated stability.
• Low internal consistency was observed for the overall index and most subindices.
• Good content validity was found, with limited evidence of construct validity.
• Factor analysis did not support the eight underlying subindices.
• The index effectively assessed social network and support levels, with some associations noted between blood pressure and subindices.

Conclusions:

• The social support sum-index requires modification before further use.
• Shortening the index by six items and regrouping subindices is proposed.
• Further validation studies are needed to confirm the revised index's psychometric properties.