Dimensions of social support in the MSPSS: Factorial structure, reliability, and theoretical implications

The psychometric and factor-analytic properties of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were investigated in an undergraduate university student sample and an adolescent inpatient psychiatric sample. Three factors were extracted from each sample and were comparable to those described by the originators of the scale. Reliability, concurrent validity, and construct validity estimates are also reported. The scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency in both samples. In terms of validity, the MSPSS correlated strongly with the Social Support Behaviors scale and showed little relationship to social desirability. As predicted, scores from the MSPSS correlated negatively with two separate measures of depression and positively with a self-concept measure. However, the strength of relationships between severity of depression and social support subscales differed between the two samples. The implications of these findings for the assessment of perceived social support and for future research are discussed.

[1]  M. Pilisuk,et al.  Personal support systems of former mental patients residing in board-and-care facilities. , 1984, Journal of community psychology.

[2]  Sharon Riedel,et al.  Modes of social support: The social support behaviors (SS-B) scale , 1987 .

[3]  J. Coyne,et al.  Toward an interactional description of depression. , 1976, Psychiatry.

[4]  J. Teasdale,et al.  Predictors of relapse in unipolar depressives: expressed emotion, marital distress, and perceived criticism , 1989 .

[5]  M. Kovacs.  The Children's Depression, Inventory (CDI). , 1985, Psychopharmacology bulletin.

[6]  J. Lyons,et al.  Perceived social support from family and friends: measurement across disparate samples. , 1988, Journal of personality assessment.

[7]  R. Moos,et al.  Psychosocial theory and research on depression: An integrative framework and review , 1982 .

[8]  Alan Vaux,et al.  Support network characteristics associated with support satisfaction and perceived support , 1985 .

[9]  M. Hammer,et al.  Social supports, social networks, and schizophrenia. , 1981, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[10]  Going beyond social support: the role of social relationships in adaptation. , 1986 .

[11]  A. Beck,et al.  An inventory for measuring depression. , 1961, Archives of general psychiatry.

[12]  D. Revicki,et al.  Occupational stress, social support, and depression. , 1985, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[13]  G. Zimet,et al.  The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support , 1988 .

[14]  J. Stokes,et al.  The inventory of socially supportive behaviors: Dimensionality, prediction, and gender differences , 1984, American journal of community psychology.

[15]  K. Heller,et al.  Measures of perceived social support from friends and from family: Three validation studies , 1983, American journal of community psychology.

[16]  Manuel Barrera,et al.  Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and models , 1986 .

[17]  Irwin G. Sarason,et al.  A Brief Measure of Social Support: Practical and Theoretical Implications , 1987 .

[18]  L. Pearlin,et al.  Marital status, life-strains and depression. , 1977, American sociological review.

[19]  B. Israel,et al.  Veridicality of social support: a comparison of principal and network members' responses. , 1986, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[20]  A. Comrey.  Factor-analytic methods of scale development in personality and clinical psychology. , 1988, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[21]  M. Barrera,et al.  The structure of social support: a conceptual and empirical analysis. , 1983, Journal of community psychology.

[22]  J. Coyne.  Depression and the response of others. , 1976, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[23]  J. House.  Work stress and social support , 1981 .

[24]  David P. Moxley,et al.  Measuring the social support networks of persons with psychiatric disabilities: A pilot investigation. , 1988 .