CASSS-CZ: the Czech Version of the Social Support Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents

This validation study deals with verification of the Czech version of CASSS. The questionnaire comprises 60 items. Students assess the frequency of each event described by an item and its importance. The research was realized on a sample of 274 grade 6 to 9 students and yielded similar psychometric properties as the original American version of CASSS (2000). The factor analysis identified five-factor structure corresponding to the variables of parents, teacher, classmates, best friend, and people in school. Factor loadings ranged from 0.31 to 0.87 (compared with 0.52 to 0.81 in the original version) within each of the five components. The identified structure explains approximately 48 % of variance. Reliability estimated using Cronbach alpha was computed for each subscale (parents, teacher, classmates, best friend, and people in school). The coefficients ranged from 0.84 to 0.93 (compared with 0.92 to 0.95 in the original version). Cronbach alpha for the whole questionnaire is 0.95 (compared with 0.96 in the original version). The method can be used within the conditions of Czech schools to determine the actual state of individuals and groups, individual counselling and evaluation of intervention effects.