International Emergency and Public Health Fellowship Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
BMC Med Res Methodol. 2011 Dec 2;11:162. doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-11-162.
Studies of HIV often use self-reported surveys to measure sexual knowledge, attitudes, and practices. However, the self-reported data are vulnerable to social desirability (SD), a propensity of individuals to report favorable responses. The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC-SDS) was developed as a measure of the effect of social desirability, but it has not been adapted for or used in Africa. This study aimed to apply the MC-SDS nested in an HIV behavioral intervention program and to measure its reliability in four African countries.
The MC-SDS was adapted based on consultations with local stakeholders and pilot tested in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and Uganda. Trained interviewers administered the modified 28-item MC-SDS survey to 455 men and women (ages 15-24 years). The scores for the social desirability scales were calculated for all participants. An analysis of the internal consistency of responses was conducted using the Cronbach's α coefficient. Acceptable internal consistency was defined as an α coefficient of ≥ 0.70.
Mean social desirability scores ranged from a low of 15.7 in Kenya to a high of 20.6 in Mozambique. The mean score was 17.5 for Uganda and 20.6 for Mozambique. The Cronbach's α coefficients were 0.63 in Kenya, 0.66 in Mozambique, 0.70 in Uganda, and 0.80 in Ethiopia.
The MC-SDS can be effectively adapted and implemented in sub-Saharan Africa. The reliability of responses in these settings suggest that the MC-SDS could be a useful tool for capturing potential SD in surveys of HIV related risk behaviors.
HIV 研究常采用自报调查来衡量性知识、态度和行为。然而，自报数据易受社会期许（SD）的影响，即个体倾向于报告有利的反应。Marlowe-Crowne 社会期许量表（MC-SDS）是作为衡量社会期许效应的一种手段而开发的，但尚未在非洲进行过适应性调整或使用。本研究旨在将嵌套在 HIV 行为干预计划中的 MC-SDS 进行应用，并在四个非洲国家衡量其可靠性。
根据与当地利益相关者的磋商和试点测试，对 MC-SDS 进行了改编，该测试在埃塞俄比亚、肯尼亚、莫桑比克和乌干达进行。经过培训的访谈者向 455 名年龄在 15-24 岁的男性和女性施测了修改后的 28 项 MC-SDS 调查。为所有参与者计算了社会期许量表的得分。使用 Cronbach's α 系数对反应的内部一致性进行了分析。可接受的内部一致性定义为α系数≥0.70。
社会期许得分的平均值范围从肯尼亚的 15.7 分（低）到莫桑比克的 20.6 分（高）。乌干达和莫桑比克的平均值分别为 17.5 和 20.6。肯亚的 Cronbach's α 系数为 0.63，莫桑比克为 0.66，乌干达为 0.70，埃塞俄比亚为 0.80。
MC-SDS 可以在撒哈拉以南非洲地区有效地进行改编和实施。这些环境下的反应可靠性表明，MC-SDS 可能是一种用于捕捉 HIV 相关风险行为调查中潜在 SD 的有用工具。
