Brief form of the Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (F-SozU K-6): Validation, norms, and cross-cultural measurement invariance in the USA, Germany, Russia, and China.

Abstract

The present study evaluates a brief, cross-cultural scale that maps a wide range of social resources, useful in large-scale assessments of perceived social support. The Brief Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (Fragebogen zur Sozialen Unterstützung Kurzform mit sechs Items, F-SozU K-6) was examined in representative and university student samples from the United States (Nrepresentative = 3038), Germany (Nrepresentative = 2007, Nstudent = 5406), Russia (Nrepresentative = 3020, Nstudent = 4001), and China (Nstudent = 13,582). Cross-cultural measurement invariance testing was conducted in both representative and student samples across countries. Scores on the F-SozU K-6 demonstrated good reliability and strong model fit for a unidimensional structure in all samples, with the exception of poor model fit for German students. The scores on F-SozU K-6 correlated negatively with scores on depression, anxiety, and stress measures and positively with scores on positive mental health measures. Norms for gender and age groups were established separately based on each representative sample. Cross-cultural measurement invariance testing found partial strong measurement invariance across three general population samples and three student samples. Furthermore, a simulation study showed that the amount of invariance observed in the partial invariance model had only a negligible impact on mean comparisons. Psychometric findings across diverse cultural contexts supported the robustness and validity of the F-SozU K-6 for cross-cultural epidemiologic studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).