RESEARCH ARTICLE
Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence Scale: Cultural Validation of Soc Questionnaire and Socio-Demographic Patterns in an Italian Population
Claudia Sardu1, Alessandra Mereu1, *, Alessandra Sotgiu1, Laura Andrissi1, Maria Katarina Jacobson2, Paolo Contu1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 8
First Page: 1
Last Page: 6
Publisher ID: CPEMH-8-1
DOI: 10.2174/1745017901208010001
Article History:
Received Date: 20/4/2011Revision Received Date: 28/11/2011
Acceptance Date: 29/11/2011
Electronic publication date: 14/2/2012
Collection year: 2012
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background:
The theory of salutogenesis entails that the ability to use resources for one’s wellbeing is more important than the resources themselves. This ability is referred to as the Sense of Coherence (SOC). This paper present the cross-culturally adapted version of the Italian questionnaire (13 items), and the psychometric and statistical testing of the SOC properties. It offers for the first time a view of the distribution of SOC in an Italian sample, and uses a multivariate method to clarify the effects of socio-demographic determinants on SOC.
Methods:
The cross-cultural adaptation of the English SOC questionnaire was carried out according to the guidelines reported in literature. To evaluate the psychometric and statistical properties we assessed reliability, validity and frequency distribution of the collected data. A Generalised Linear Model was used to analyse the effects of socio demographic variables on SOC.
Results:
The Italian SOC scale demonstrates a good internal consistency (α = 0.825). The model obtained with factorial analysis is not related to the traditional dimensions of SOC represented in more than one factor. The multivariate analysis highlights the joint influence of gender, age and education on SOC.
Conclusion:
The validated Italian questionnaire is now available. Socio-demographic variables should be taken into account as confounders when SOC values among different populations are compared. Presenting data on SOC of the Italian population makes a control population available for comparisons with specific subgroups, such as patient populations. Now, the Italian challenge is to integrate the salutogenic approach into Public Health police.
