Cross-Cultural Equivalence of De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale Among Older Native and Diasporic Chinese Adults

• Published in: The Gerontologist Vol. 62; no. 2; pp. e62 - e72
• Main Authors: Cheung, Sie-Long, Hobbelen, Hans J S M, van der Schans, Cees P, Krijnen, Wim P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: US Oxford University Press 09-02-2022
• Subjects: Aged; China; Community research; Confirmatory factor analysis; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Diaspora; Humans; Loneliness; Loneliness - psychology; Measurement; Mental health; Morality; Older people; Psychometrics; Quantitative psychology; Reproducibility of Results; Research design; Surveys and Questionnaires; Urban areas; China; Item response theory; Cross-national comparison; Psychometric properties; Mental health
• ISSN: 0016-9013; 1758-5341; 1758-5341
• DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnaa151

Abstract
Background and Objectives
Loneliness is prevalent among older adults and known to be detrimental to mental health. The objective of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the Chinese 6-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS) in the older native and diasporic Chinese community.
Research Design and Methods
Participants were recruited from a local community in urban Tianjin, China and urban Chinese communities of older adults in the Netherlands. Scale properties, including reliability, were calculated with Cronbach’s alpha and multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis to examine the 2-dimensional structure of the scale and the cross-cultural equivalence between both countries. Item response analysis was employed to plot the relationships between the item response and expected total scale score.
Results
A total of 193 older adults from China and 135 older adults from the Netherlands were included. The Cronbach’s alphas were 0.68 (China) and 0.71 (the Netherlands). The DJGLS’s 2-dimensional structure was validated by the goodness of fit and the factor loadings. Cross-cultural equivalence was demonstrated with the multiple-group confirmatory analysis. In addition, sufficient discriminative power of the individual items was demonstrated by item response analysis in both countries.
Discussion and Implications
This study is the first to provide a detailed item behavior analysis with an item response analysis of the DJGLS. In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest that the DJGLS has an adequate and similar item and scalar equivalence for use in Chinese populations.