Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the 11-Item de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale in Iranian Older Adults

Abstract

Loneliness is usually a chronic condition which may lead to physical and psychological undesirable consequences, and requires measurement and intervention. This study was conducted with the aim of preparing a Persian version of the 11-item de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale and evaluating its psychometric properties among the Iranian older adults. After applying the translation-back translation method, the prepared script was subjected to the face and content validity evaluations and a Persian version of the scale was prepared. Factor analysis, concurrent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest methods were used to validate the scale. The Persian version of the 11-item de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale showed acceptable content validity. The negative and significant correlations between the loneliness scores and the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale indicated that the questionnaire had acceptable concurrent validity. The results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed two factors for the scale. Also, the results of the intra-class correlation coefficient and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient demonstrated that the scale had acceptable reliability. The Persian version of the 11-item de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale is an appropriate tool for measuring loneliness in the Iranian older adults.

Evidencias de validez y confiabilidad de la versión abreviada de la Escala de Soledad de De Jong-Gierveld en estudiantes universitarios de Argentina

“…Los resultados del análisis factorial confirmatorio sugieren que la escala debe considerarse como bidimensional, con una distribución equitativa de ítems en ambos factores que representan a la soledad social y emocional, respectivamente. Estos resultados obtenidos coinciden con validaciones en diversos países (Ayala et al, 2012;Çavdar et al, 2015;De Holanda et al, 2018;Hosseinabadi et al, 2021;Ventura-León & Caycho-Rodríguez, 2017b); la estructura bidimensional de esta escala ofrece una novedad metodológica para los investigadores argentinos, ya que los instrumentos hallados hasta el momento en Argentina no operacionalizaban el constructo desde esta perspectiva bifactorial y la versión completa del instrumento que está siendo validada por Auné et al (2021) ostentó una estructura de un solo factor. Previamente se encontró que la soledad social y emocional, si bien están asociadas, son constructos diferenciales (Diehl et al, 2018) por lo que resulta relevante estudiarlos separadamente.…”

“…La Escala de Soledad De Jong Gierveld (DJGLS, por sus siglas en inglés) presenta 11 ítems para operacionalizar la soledad emocional y social (De Jong Gierveld & Van Tilburg, 2010), la DJGLS fue adaptada y/o validada para su uso en diversos países, entre los que se encuentran España (Buz & Prieto, 2013;Buz et al, 2014), Perú (Ventura-León & Caycho-Rodríguez, 2017a), Irán (Hosseinabadi et al, 2021), Israel (Iecovich, 2013), Turquía (Çavdar et al, 2015) y Países Bajos (Uysal-Bozkir et al, 2015). Recientemente se halló un trabajo que reporta los primeros avances en el estudio de este instrumento en Argentina (Auné et al, 2021) pero aún son escasos los artículos que reportan en detalle su funcionamiento psicométrico en este país.…”

Timely Considerations of Using the de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale with Older Adults Living in Long-Term Care Homes: A Critical Reflection

“…The following are some examples and is not an extensive list. The 11item version was found to be reliable and valid among older adults living in the community in Canada when administered in English (Penning, Liu & Chou, 2014), Spain when administered in Spanish (Buz & Pérez-Arechaederra, 2014), and Iran when administered in Persian (Hosseinabadi et al, 2021). The 6-item version was found to be reliable and valid among older adults living in the community in the Netherlands when administered in Dutch (de Jong-Gierveld & van Tilburg, 2006) and in Hong Kong when administered in Chinese (Leung, de Jong Gierveld & Lam, 2008).…”

Relationship Between Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 and Loneliness in Patients With Dementia: A Cross-Sectional Study From Iran

“…This is an 11-item questionnaire which scores social loneliness (5 items) and emotional loneliness (6 items) and is validated in Farsi ( 25 ). The content validity of the questionnaire based on Waltz and Bausell's content validity index was acceptable (0.881), and it had appropriate internal consistency (α: 0.778).…”

“…The content validity of the questionnaire based on Waltz and Bausell's content validity index was acceptable (0.881), and it had appropriate internal consistency (α: 0.778). Hosseinabadi R et al demonstrated that the Persian version of the 11-item De Jong Gierveld Scale had significant correlations with the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale and also showed acceptable concurrent validity and reliability of this scale for measuring loneliness in Iranian older adults ( 25 ).…”