Validity and reliability of Arabic MOS social support survey

Abstract

We aimed to generate a valid reliable Arabic version of MOS social support survey (MOS-SSS). We did a cross sectional study in medical students of Faculty of Medicine in Khartoum, Sudan. We did a clustered random sampling in 500 students of which 487 were suitable for analysis. We followed the standard translation process for translating the MOS-SSS. We accomplished factor analysis to assess construct validity, and generated item-scales correlations to evaluate the convergent and discriminant validity. We extracted the Cronbach’s α and Spearman Brown coefficient of spit half method to determine internal consistency. We measured stability by correlation between the scores of the MOS survey taken at two different occasions with ten days apart in 252 participants. All items correlated highly (0.788 or greater) with their hypothesized scales. All items in subscales correlated higher by two standard errors with their own scale than with any other scale. Principle component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted on the 19 items and examination of scree plot graphically suggested 4 predominant factors that account for 72 % of variance. It showed high loadings, ranging from 0.720 to 0.84 for items of emotional support, 0.699–0.845 for tangible support, 0.518–0.823 for affectionate support, and 0.740–0.816 for positive social interaction. Cronbach’s alpha for overall MOS scale and subscales indicated high internal consistency. The test–retest correlation showed weak correlation between the test and retest (ranges from 0.04 to 0.104). The Arabic MOS-SSS had high validity and internal consistency.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-016-2960-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Effects of Fear of COVID-19 on Mental Well-Being and Quality of Life: A path analysis

“…Higher scores indicating greater perceived social support. The MOS-SSS-6 has shown satisfactory psychometric properties (Holden et al, 2014), similar to the original 19-item measure (Sherbourne & Stewart, 1991) as did the Arabic version (Dafaalla et al, 2016).…”

Effects of Fear of COVID-19 on Mental Well-Being and Quality of Life among Saudi Adults: A Path Analysis

“…The Arabic version of the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS-6) was used to assess the perceived social support;[ 30 ] this is a shortened version of the original 19-item questionnaire. [ 31 ] Items relate to emotional/information support (2 items), tangible support (2 items), affectionate support (1 item) and positive social interaction (1 item).…”

“…The MOS-SSS-6 has demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties,[ 32 ] similar to the original 19-item measure,[ 31 ] as did the Arabic version. [ 30 ]…”

Which Domains of Social Support Better Predict Quality of Life of Women with Breast Cancer? A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Scores of both measures were calculated as the average score of the subscale items, transformed to a zero-to 100-item scale, in which higher scores indicate more support. [ 20 ] The validity and reliability of MOS-SSS were found acceptable among different samples and cultures,[ 29 30 31 32 ] and also in Iran. [ 33 ]…”