Validity and Reliability of the Iranian Version of the Short Form Social Well Being Scale in a General Urban Population

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the reliability and validity of the Iranian version of the short form social well-being scale. METHODS: After linguistic validation, the Iranian version of social well-being scale was completed by 715 participants, aged ≥18 yr between Jan and Sep 2015. Concurrent validity was examined by calculating the Pearson’s correlation coefficient between the dimensions of social well-being and social support. Internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, confirmatory and explanatory factor analyses were also examined. RESULTS: The internal consistency as measured by Cronbach’s alpha coefficients was 0.72 for total score. No ceiling and floor effect was found in total score or any of the subscales. The concurrent correlation coefficients between social well-being and social support ranged from good to excellent agreement. Exploratory factor analysis supported mainly comparable results with the original US English dialect version. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis for 5-factor models indicated acceptable fit for the proposed research models. CONCLUSION: The findings support the initial reliability and validity of the Iranian version of the social well-being scale in the research and community settings in Iran.