title: Psychometric Properties of the Family Support Scale Adapted for African American Women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of our study was two-fold: 1) adapt and test a social support measure specific to the experiences of African American women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM); 2) examine its relationship to psychosocial measures.
  
  
  METHODS
  200 rural African American women with uncontrolled T2DM participating in a randomized controlled trial completed surveys at baseline on their social support, empowerment, self-care, self-efficacy, depression and diabetes distress. Exploratory factor analysis and correlation analysis were conducted to test the psychometric properties of the Dunst Family Support Scale adapted for AA women with T2DM (FSS-AA T2DM) and its relationship with other psychosocial measures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 16 items of the FSS-AA T2DM loaded onto three distinct factors: parent and spouse/partner support, community and medical support, and extended family and friends support. Reliability for the entire scale was good (Cronbach's α = .90) and was acceptable to high across these three factors (Cronbach's α of .86, .83, and .83 respectively). All three factors were significantly correlated with self-reported empowerment, self-care, self-efficacy, depression and diabetes distress, although the pattern was different for each factor. FSS-AA-T2DM showed good concurrent validity when compared with similar items on the Diabetes Distress Scale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The FSS-AA T2DM, a 16-item scale measuring social support among rural African American women with T2DM, is internally consistent and reliable. Findings support the utility of this screening tool in this population, although additional testing is needed with other groups in additional settings.
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Littlewood
authors.forename: Doyle M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lutes
authors.forename: Chelsey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Solar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D003153:Community Health Services; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012648:Self Care; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support