Validity and Reliability of the Sense of Coherence Scale among Korean Adolescents with Chronic Diseases

Abstract

Background: This study adapted the Sense of Coherence (SOC) Scale for Korean adolescents with chronic diseases and evaluated its psychometric properties.

Purpose: This study aimed to validate the Sense of Coherence Scale for Korean adolescents with Chronic Disease (SOC-AC).

Design and methods: This study employed the cross-sectional design. In total, 144 adolescents with chronic diseases (age: 15.07 ± 1.62 years; 58% male) responded to the study questionnaire, which included the 13-item SOC scale (SOC-13) and the 10-item Children's Depression Inventory. The SOC-13 was shortened to create the 10-item SOC-AC. Through an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Results: Following the EFA, two items (Item 8 and 13) with low factor loadings were deleted. Further, following the CFA, one item (Item 2) with a high modification index was deleted. The resulting 10-item SOC-AC exhibited a 3-factor structure comprising the subscales of meaningfulness (Item 4, 7, and 12), comprehensibility-manageability (Item 3, 5, 9, and 11), and resilience (Item 1, 6, and 10). The internal consistency of the SOC-AC was 0.868; the Cronbach's alpha values were 0.765, 0.78, and 0.529 for the meaningfulness, comprehensibility-manageability, and resilience subscales. The Pearson's correlation coefficient for the association between the SOC-13 and depression showed acceptable criterion-related validity (r = -0.436, p < .0001).

Conclusions: These findings indicate that the SOC-AC has satisfactory psychometric properties and that it is useful for assessing SOC in adolescents with chronic diseases.

Practice implication: This study revealed the utility of the examined scale to measure SOC as a means of health promotion and care in adolescents with chronic diseases.

Keywords: Adolescents with chronic diseases; Reliability; Sense of coherence; Validity.