Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support

Xiujun Yang,1 Minxia Xue,1 Sabina Pauen,2 Huawu He3 1School of Marxism, Shanghai University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; 3School of Public Economics and Administration, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Huawu He, School of Public Economics and Administration, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Guoding Road. 777, Shanghai, 200433, People’s Republic of China, Email hehuawu@126.comAim: The purpose of this study is to revise the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and validate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the scale for Chinese college students.Methods: A total of 2830 Chinese college students were tested with the Chinese version of MSPSS. Four weeks after the formal test, 80 randomly selected subjects were retested.Results: The item analysis shows that the total correlation between each item and the total score is 0.525~0.806, higher than the standard of 0.30; the difference between the high group and the low group in all items has reached the significant level. Exploratory factor analysis shows that the scale includes three factors with a cumulative contribution rate of 69.185%; confirmatory factor analysis shows that the data is well fitted. The total score and three factors of social support scale are positively correlated with self-esteem, with a correlation value of 0.367~0.433, and negatively correlated with depression and anxiety, with correlation values of − 0.356~-0.428 and − 0.253~-0.308; all are significant at 0.01 level. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale is 0.911, the split-half coefficient is 0.865, and the test-retest coefficient is 0.837– 0.914.Conclusion: The Chinese version of the MSPSS has good reliability and validity, and is suitable for Chinese college students.Keywords: college students, social support, reliability, validity