Validity and Reliability of the Sense of Coherence Scale among Korean Adolescents with Chronic Diseases

Background: This study adapted the Sense of Coherence (SOC) Scale for Korean adolescents with chronic diseases and evaluated its psychometric properties. Purpose: This study aimed to validate the Sense of Coherence Scale for Korean adolescents with Chronic Disease (SOC-AC). Design and methods: This study employed the cross-sectional design. In total, 144 adolescents with chronic diseases (age: 15.07 ± 1.62 years; 58% male) responded to the study questionnaire, which included the 13-item SOC scale (SOC-13) and the 10-item Children's Depression Inventory. The SOC-13 was shortened to create the 10-item SOC-AC. Through an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: Following the EFA, two items (Item 8 and 13) with low factor loadings were deleted. Further, following the CFA, one item (Item 2) with a high modification index was deleted. The resulting 10-item SOC-AC exhibited a 3-factor structure comprising the subscales of meaningfulness (Item 4, 7, and 12), comprehensibility–manageability (Item 3, 5, 9, and 11), and resilience (Item 1, 6, and 10). The internal consistency of the SOC-AC was 0.868; the Cronbach's alpha values were 0.765, 0.78, and 0.529 for the meaningfulness, comprehensibility–manageability, and resilience subscales. The Pearson's correlation coefficient for the association between the SOC-13 and depression showed acceptable criterion-related validity (r = −0.436, p < .0001). Conclusions: These findings indicate that the SOC-AC has satisfactory psychometric properties and that it is useful for assessing SOC in adolescents with chronic diseases. Practice implication: This study revealed the utility of the examined scale to measure SOC as a means of health promotion and care in adolescents with chronic diseases.