Seth et al. Scale of Perceived Social Support for Elderly

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to develop a scale to assess the perceived social- support comprising of five components among elderly in India. These five components are overall life perception, emotional support, physical support, nutritional support and financial support. Sample comprised of 103 elderly people of age 60 years and above (63 male and 40 female) living in urban area of Varanasi. Single stage cluster sampling was used to select the respondents and pre-tested and structured scheduled method was employed for data collection. A self developed 64-items was introduced earlier and 57-items in the final scale. These items were assessed through 4 point Likert scale. Mean, Median, Standard deviation, higher and lower values etc. of total score were calculated. The reliability of the scale was calculated by administering Cronbach-alpha. The Gutman split-half coefficient was found 0.77, indicating higher reliability of the test. Construct validity of the test was determined by finding coefficient of correlation between scores and reliability of the scores. It was found 0.98, showing highly validity.