| Summary: | The aim of this paper was to validate the factor structure and gender-related measurement invariance of the short form of the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors (ISSB). The study sample consisted of 710 undergraduate students aged 19–55 years. A confirmatory factor analysis of the original design confirmed a three-factor structure with an acceptable goodness of fit (CFI = 0.910, TLI = 0.894, RMSEA = 0.066) and validity; however, some indices hinted at potential weak points. Therefore, we proposed an alternative model with the identical three-factor structure but fewer items. This model showed a better goodness of fit (CFI = 0.953, TLI = 0.936, RMSEA = 0.064) and was superior to the original design (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Convergent and discriminant validity and reliability were also good. Finally, a gender-related measurement invariance analysis demonstrated invariance in the ISSB structure for both models, while revealing partial metric and scalar invariance. In conclusion, the findings suggest that the ISSB-SF is a reliable, efficient and rapid tool for measuring received social support, with the proposed alternative design possibly being advantageous if validated on other populations.
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