ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale (KvSASS), and to evaluate its psychometric properties. METHODS: KvSASS was administered to two groups, 269 members of the general population and 52 depressive patients, and data on socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, occupation, marital status, and level of education) and psychological assessment scales (Self-esteem Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, General Health Questionnaire/Quality of Life-12) were collected. For the patient group, data on clinical rating scales and the duration of antidepressant treatment were also obtained. RESULTS: The evaluation of item intercorrelation by the Pearson correlation matrix showed that the number of correlation coefficients over 0.40 was nine. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), split-half reliability (Guttmans), and test-retest reliability of the KvSASS were good. Three main factors (social activity, self-value oriented activity, and work related activity) were extracted, and three clusters (highly, moderately, and poorly adaptive) emerged by factor and cluster analyses respectively. Concurrent validities with other psychological assessment scales were high. Stepwise multiple regression tests showed that KvSASS was significantly associated with Self-Esteem Scale and General Health Questionnaire/Quality of Life-12 in the general population group, and with occupation and General Health Questionnaire/Quality of Life-12 in the depressive patient group. CONCLUSION: KvSASS was a reliable and valid instrument to assess social functioning in both members of general population and depressive patients, and had psychometric properties reflecting the depressive patients' self-perception of social behavior rather than depressive symptoms themselves.