Development and validation of Social Support Needs Questionnaire (SSNQ) for the left-behind older adults in rural China.

This study compiled a Social Support Needs Questionnaire (SSNQ) for the left-behind older adults in rural China and assessed its psychometric properties. The formation of the SSNQ included three stages. First, item pool was established based on literature analysis. Second, through expert consultation, the 1-version questionnaire items were determined. Third, pre-survey with 901 cases of rural left-behind older adults was used to develop and test final-version of the Social Support Needs Questionnaire (SSNQ). The Cronbach's α of the SSNQ was 0.914, ranging from 0.815 to 0.886 for each factor. The item-content validity index ranged from 0.875 to 1.00, and the scale-content validity index was 0.969. The SSNQ prepared by this study can be used as an evaluation tool for the social support needs of left-behind older adults in rural China, providing a basis for further establishment of the social support system.