Validity and reliability of the social support scale for exercise behavior in diabetic women.

Objective: The present study aimed at examining the reliability and validity of the Persian version of Sallis's Social Support Scale for Exercise Behavior. It also aimed at measuring the predictive power of this scale among diabetic women.

Method: confirmatory factor analysis was used to identify potential differences between English and Persian versions and construct validity of the scale. Cronbach's α coefficients were determined to estimate internal consistency of the scale.

Results: A total of 348 women who referred to a diabetes institute in Iran filled in the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the friend factor of the scale completely. However, it modified the family factor and reduced the English items. That is, it changed the items into 13 and generated 3 subfactors with a different structure. Cronbach's α coefficients for the family and friend support were .89 and .86, respectively. Therefore, this scale consisting of 18 items can be used to assess the social support (friend and family) in exercise behavior. In diabetic patients, emotional support subfactor was found to be the most predictive subfactor for physical activity in family social support scale.

Conclusion: This 18-item scale was valid and reliable and can be used for diabetic women to evaluate their exercise social support. The results showed that consideration of emotional support is the most important point in promotion of exercise among diabetic women in Iran.