Quansah Frank, Agormedah Edmond Kwesi, Srem-Sai Medina, Hagan John Elvis, Schack Thomas
Department of Educational Foundations, University of Education, Winneba, P. O. Box 25, Winneba, Ghana.
Department of Business & Social Sciences Education, University of Cape Coast, PMB, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Heliyon. 2024 Aug 14;10(16):e36252. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36252. eCollection 2024 Aug 30.
The dimensionality of the sense of coherence (SOC-L9) scale has been in contention due to the varied factor structure revealed in the literature. In this study, we assessed the dimensionality of the SOC-L9 scale using Ghanaian university students while guarding against the method effect. The study also examined the gender measurement invariance of the scale.
This research conveniently sampled 1062 students who responded to the SOC-L9 scale with negative items reversed to positive items. A larger proportion of the participants were male students (n = 769, 72.4 %), with 293(27.6 %) being female students. The youngest participant was 18 years old, whereas the oldest was 42 years old. Following all validation studies protocols, four distinct confirmatory factor analysis models were fitted and compared (i.e., unidimensional, three-factor first-order, three-factor second-order and bifactor models).
The initial model comparison revealed that the bifactor CFA model [CFI = 0.958, SRMR = 0.036, AIC = 21231.35, BIC = 21370.45] was superior to the unidimensional [CFI = 0.914, SRMR = 0.046, AIC = 26280.67, BIC = 26414.8] and 3-factor models [CFI = 0.932, SRMR = 0.040, AIC = 26221.67, BIC = 26370.71]. Upon further probing, it was discovered that SOC-L9 functions best as a unidimensional scale for the university student population. Gender measurement invariance was established for configural invariance [CFI = 0.986, SRMR = 0.044], metric invariance [CFI = 0.894, SRMR = 0.051] and scalar invariance [CFI = 0.983, SRMR = 0.047].
The SOC-L9 scale has a nested structure with the various sub-scales interacting to produce a summary total observed score. The structure of the SOC-L9 requires scholars to treat the scale as a unidimensional scale rather than a multidimensional one. This latent structure was found to be consistent with male and female university students.
由于文献中揭示的因素结构各异，连贯感量表（SOC-L9）的维度一直存在争议。在本研究中，我们以加纳大学生为样本评估了SOC-L9量表的维度，同时防范方法效应。该研究还检验了该量表在性别上的测量不变性。
本研究方便抽样了1062名学生，他们对SOC-L9量表做出了回应，其中负面项目已反向为正面项目。参与者中男生比例较大（n = 769，72.4%），女生有293人（27.6%）。最年轻的参与者为18岁，最年长的为42岁。按照所有验证性研究方案，拟合并比较了四个不同的验证性因素分析模型（即单维模型、三因素一阶模型、三因素二阶模型和双因素模型）。
初始模型比较显示，双因素验证性因素分析模型[CFI = 0.958，SRMR = 0.036，AIC = 21231.35，BIC = 21370.45]优于单维模型[CFI = 0.914，SRMR = 0.046，AIC = 26280.67，BIC = 26414.8]和三因素模型[CFI = 0.932，SRMR = 0.040，AIC = 26221.67，BIC = 26370.71]。进一步探究发现，对于大学生群体而言，SOC-L9量表作为单维量表的功能最佳。建立了性别测量在构型不变性[CFI = 0.986，SRMR = 0.044]、度量不变性[CFI = 0.894，SRMR = 0.051]和标量不变性[CFI = 0.983，SRMR = 0.047]方面的不变性。
SOC-L9量表具有嵌套结构，各个子量表相互作用以产生一个汇总的总观测分数。SOC-L9量表的结构要求学者将该量表视为单维量表而非多维量表。这种潜在结构在男女大学生中均被发现是一致的。
