Validation of Korean Versions of the Lubben Social Network Scales in Korean Americans

The Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS) was designed to measure perceived social support received from family and friends. This study tests the structural validity of two forms of the LSNS: the Korean revised LSNS (K-LSNS-R) and the Korean 6-item LSNS (K-LSNS-6). The data were drawn from survey interviews of 142 Korean American caregivers in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Both Korean versions of the scales showed good internal consistency reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis of the scales yielded an overall good fit for the K-LSNS-6 but a poor fit for the K-LSNS-R. These findings suggest that the K-LSNS-6 may be a better tool for assessing social networks in Korean samples because of its better model fit and parsimony.