Objectives: Aging is a growing global phenomenon and poses challenges, especially in developing countries such as Iran. Social support plays a vital role in the quality of life of older adults. Given the lack of a valid Persian instrument to measure perceived social support, this study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and psychometrically evaluate the Persian version of the Six-Question Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ-6) in older adults in Tehran.
Materials and Methods: This methodological study was conducted in 2023 on 300 older adults aged 60 years and older referring to comprehensive health centers in Tehran. Sampling was conducted using a convenience method from three selected comprehensive health centers in Tehran. Translation was performed according to the World Health Organization protocol (round trip). Face and content validity were measured with CVR and CVI, construct validity with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), criterion validity with correlation with the MSPSS scale, and reliability with Cronbach's alpha and test-retest (ICC).
Results: The mean age of the participants was 68.4 ± 7.2 years and 51.7% of the participants were female. Face and content validity were confirmed; CVI values ranged from 0.82 to 0.94 and CVR values for all items were greater than 0.70. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of the model (CFI = 0.992, RMSEA = 0.078) and factor loadings ranged from 0.771 to 0.894 (P < 0.001). Criterion validity was confirmed with a moderate positive correlation with the MSPSS (r = 0.47–0.27, P < 0.001). Internal consistency was high (alpha 0.883 for SSQN and 0.927 for SSQS) and test-retest reliability was good (0.84 and 0.87, respectively).
Conclusion: The Persian version of SSQ-6 has satisfactory validity and reliability in Iranian older adults and can be used to measure perceived social support in research related to this population.