The reliability and validity of the Maternal Social Support Index for primiparous mothers: a brief report.

The Maternal Social Support Index (MSSI) is an 18-item questionnaire designed to quickly assess qualitative and quantitative aspects of a mother's social support. This study examines a sample of primiparous mothers during the first nine months following delivery. Mothers were interviewed within 72 hours after delivery and again at six weeks and nine months. Using Spearman coefficients, the correlation for total MSSI scores between birth and nine months was .75. The correlations for individual items between birth and nine months ranged from .22 to .76. The MSSI at birth was strongly correlated with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale at nine months (r = .41, P = .001). Scores on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale at birth were inversely and significantly associated with the MSSI at six weeks postpartum (r = .50, P = .004). The MSSI assesses important elements of a new mother's environment which are related to her satisfaction with an intimate other, as well as depressive symptoms. These findings are similar to those in earlier reports.