title: Psychometric properties of the persian version of the multidimensional scale of perceived social support in iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Social support is a complex and multifaceted construct. Thus, It is important that a given social support scale be theoretically grounded and its purview clearly defined. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability, validity and factor structure of the Iranian version of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS).
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample study included 176 consecutive myocardial infarction (MI) patients admitted to the coronary care unit (CCU) ward of nine hospitals in Isfahan, Iran, and 71 consecutive subjects from the general population. They all filled out the final Iranian version of the MSPSS and also 71 participants filled out the MSPSS twice over a 2-month period. Factor analysis, Cronbach's α coefficient and Pearson's correlation coefficient correlation were used to analyze data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Factor analysis of the scores of the patient and healthy samples yielded a three-factor structure, including family, friends and significant others. The percentage of variance explained by the three factors in the patient sample and healthy sample were 77.87% and 78.55%, respectively. Cronbach's α coefficient has been found to be 0.84 for the scale and 0.90, 0.93 and 0.85, respectively, for the friends, significant others and family subscales from the patient sample, and 0.92 for the scale and 0.89, 0.92 and 0.87, respectively, for the friends, significant others and family subscales from the healthy sample. Test-retest stability over a 2-month period yielded 0.84 for the scale and 0.73, 0.78 and 0.84, respectively, for the friends, significant others and family subscales from the healthy sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings proved the three-factor structure of the Iranian version of the MSPSS and indicated that the Iranian version of the MSPSS is a reliable, valid and acceptable measure of perceived social support.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences Research Center, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bagherian-Sararoudi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Payam-e-Noor University of Khorasgan, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmadreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hajian
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hadi Bahrami
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Ehsan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Sarafraz
authors.affiliation: Section of Adolescent Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Zimet
keywords: Iranian population; psychometric properties; social support