Diabetes Empowerment Scale–Short Form (DES-SF)
Measures diabetes-related psychosocial self-efficacy and empowerment in managing diabetes.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Diabetes Empowerment Scale–Short Form (DES-SF) was developed by Anderson, R. M., Fitzgerald, J. T., Gruppen, L. D., Funnell, M. M., & Oh, M. S. (2003). It is designed to measure Diabetes-related psychosocial self-efficacy. The scale is intended for use with Adults with diabetes.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 8 items.
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Somewhat Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Somewhat Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Scoring
Item scores are averaged to produce a mean score.
Total scores range from 1 to 5. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Empowerment: 1 – 2
- Moderate Empowerment: 3 – 3
- High Empowerment: 4 – 5
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of α = 0.84.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 3 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.