Data collected from the Chinese American Psychiatric Epidemiological Study
(CAPES) were used to examine the factor validity of selected social support
and conflict indices among 1,152 married Chinese Americans. Gender, age, a
nd a 36-item social interaction scale consisting of six separate indices of
social support and social conflict (spouse, family, and friend) were facto
r analyzed. As expected, cross-cultural validity of scores on all six socia
l interaction indices was confirmed, lending empirical support to the notio
n that social support and conflict from different sources are distinct cons
tructs in Chinese Americans.