Assessment of a short scale to measure social support.

A wide variety of measures have been used to assess the effects of social support on both physical and psychological status. Information on the reliability and validity of many of these instruments is unavailable; other instruments appear to be reasonably valid but involve large numbers of questions and require considerable time for completion. This study examines the properties of a short, self-administered social support scale (SSS). Data are available from 3 samples: HMO clients in a weight loss program (N = 268); chronic facial pain patients (N = 92); and colorectal cancer patients (N = 318). Three scoring strategies measuring two dimensions (structural and perceptual) of social support are compared with respect to internal consistency and criterion and construct validity. One of these strategies results in a measure that behaves in a way consistent with other, longer instruments and appears to possess acceptable reliability and validity. Scores can be broken down by source (e.g. spouse, friends), and wording can be modified to measure either general support or support for a specific situation.