Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure for the Brazilian context.

Abstract

Introduction: The Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM) was developed to measure individual differences in social comparison orientation and has been widely used in research and various different settings.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to adapt the online version of the INCOM and to evaluate its psychometric parameters when applied to a Brazilian population of university students.

Methods: The procedures were divided into two steps: step 1 - cross-cultural adaptation and analysis of content validity, and step 2 - assessment of psychometric characteristics. Step 1 comprised the processes of translation, evaluation by an expert committee, evaluation by the target population, and back-translation. For step 2, 1,065 university students were recruited and then factor analysis, analysis of reliability, and analysis of validity based on external measures were performed.

Results: The adaptation process yielded satisfactory results, including good indicators of content validity. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-dimensional structure and adequate factor loadings, except for item 11, which was excluded from the final version. Additionally, the final version of the scale had adequate fit indices (χ2 = 148.45, degrees of freedom [df] = 26; p < 0.001; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.06; comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.99; and Tucker-Lewis index [TLI] = 0.98). Evidence of reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83) was observed and there were positive correlations with negative affect (r = 0.36) and negative correlations with positive affect and self-esteem (r = -0.15; r = -0.41, respectively).

Conclusion: The Brazilian version of the INCOM presents satisfactory psychometric parameters and can thus be used to measure social comparison orientation.