Adaptation and validation of the Instrumental Expressive Social Support Scale in Portuguese older individuals.

Lígia Lima,Maria Manuela Martins,Celeste Bastos,Marina Guerra,Patrício Costa,Célia Santos

doi:10.1590/1518-8345.2647.3096

Abstract

Objective to adapt and validate the Instrumental Expressive Social Support Scale (IESS) in a sample of older people.Method methodological study. The sample of 964 community-dwelling older people was randomly divided into two groups. The first group was used as a calibration sample to study the number of factors underlying social support through Principal Axis Factoring, and the second group as a validation sample to test the “best fit” model through Confirmatory Factor Analysis.Results exploratory Factor Analysis suggested a three-factor solution, which was confirmed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The factors were similar to those in the pre-existing dimensions of the original instrument and were named as Sense of control (α = 0.900), Financial support (α = 0.802), Familiar and socio-affective support (α = 0.778). Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed acceptable fit. The model’s goodness-of-fit indexes were satisfactory (χ2/df = 5.418; CFI = 0.903; NFI = 0.884; RMSEA = 0.098). The convergent validity was supported by associations between social support and medication adherence and positive affect. The discriminant validity was evidenced by association with negative affect. The reliability analysis showed high values of internal consistency.Conclusion the instrument proved to be a valid measure for the assessment of social support in older people.

Highlights

Social support has been widely studied as a major determinant of health and well-being throughout the life cycle[1,2] with significant importance in older age[3].Portugal is one of the European countries in which there is a high rate of progressive aging of the population mostly due to declining fertility and increased life expectancy[4]
Other problems arise in this period of life, such as the “growth of dependent, disabled people and people suffering from chronic diseases, experiencing family destructuring, changes in family patterns, coupled with the increasing isolation that affects older people and mobility problems, among others”(5), that are frequently negatively associated with social support
The Principal Axis Factoring (PAF) method was used for a first exploratory data analysis, aiming to understand how data were naturally grouped

Summary

Introduction

Social support has been widely studied as a major determinant of health and well-being throughout the life cycle[1,2] with significant importance in older age[3]. Portugal is one of the European countries in which there is a high rate of progressive aging of the population mostly due to declining fertility and increased life expectancy[4]. Other problems arise in this period of life, such as the “growth of dependent, disabled people and people suffering from chronic diseases, experiencing family destructuring, changes in family patterns, coupled with the increasing isolation that affects older people and mobility problems, among others”(5), that are frequently negatively associated with social support. In a cross-sectional study conducted to compare social support of older people in seven European countries, Portugal showed the lowest score[3]. It is crucial to develop instruments to support research on this new emerging reality, in particular, instruments that are capable of measuring social support in old people

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion