Measurement strategies in social support: A descriptive review of the literature
Journal of Clinical PsychologyPublished 1 September 1993
David R. Winemiller, M. Ellen Mitchell, Jane Sutliff, Daniel I. Cline
Citations147
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.29
SNIP1.25
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
A systematic descriptive review of the social support literature was conducted to outline measurement problems, identify the nature of assessment inadequacies, and provide recommendations for the future about conceptual maturity, a priori biases, measurement of network utilization, and social support sources.
Abstract
Social support literature has been criticized for lacking methodological clarity. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic descriptive review of the social support literature, outline measurement problems, identify the nature of assessment inadequacies, and provide recommendations for the future. Two-hundred sixty-two empirically based articles published between 1980 and 1987 were reviewed comprehensively. Information about social support measurement and sample characteristics was obtained. A system was designed to organize the data on sample characteristics, type of instrument, source of support assessed, and category of support measured. The social support literature also was described from a methodological perspective, and several trends were identified. Conclusions about conceptual maturity, a priori biases, measurement of network utilization, and social support sources are discussed.
Keywords
Social SciencesHealth Professions
Psychological BulletinStress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis.
17,063 Citations1985Sheldon Cohen, Thomas A. Wills
There is evidence consistent with both main effect and main effect models for social support, but each represents a different process through which social support may affect well-being.
American Journal of EpidemiologySOCIAL NETWORKS, HOST RESISTANCE, AND MORTALITY: A NINE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY RESIDENTS
5,347 Citations1979Lisa Berkman, S. Leonard Syme
The findings show that people who lacked social and community ties were more likely to die in the follow-up period than those with more extensive contacts.
Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyAssessing social support: The Social Support Questionnaire.
2,899 Citations1983Irwin G. Sarason, Henry M. Levine +2 more
American Journal of Community PsychologyMeasures of perceived social support from friends and from family: Three validation studies
2,220 Citations1983Mary E. Procidano, Kenneth Heller
Three studies are described in which measures of perceived social support from friends and from family were developed and validated and the PSS measures were internally consistent and appeared to measure valid constructs that were separate from each other and from network measures.
Measuring the Functional Components of Social Support
2,180 Citations1985Sheldon Cohen, Robin Mermelstein +2 more
Journal of Personality AssessmentDeveloping a Measure of Loneliness
2,056 Citations1978Daniel W. Russell, Letitia Anne Peplau +1 more
The development of the UCLA Loneliness Scale, a short, 20-item general measure of loneliness is reported, which has high internal consistency and a test-retest correlation over a two-month period of .73.
Journal of Health and Social BehaviorConceptual, Methodological, and Theoretical Problems in Studying Social Support as a Buffer Against Life Stress
1,498 Citations1982Peggy A. Thoits
Empirical work on the buffering hypothesis is reviewed, alternate conceptualizations and operationalizations of support are outlined, a refined hypothesis and model for analysis are presented, and three theoretical approaches that may be used to explain the interrelationships between support, events, and disturbance are suggested.
Journal of Health and Social BehaviorThe Effect of Social Support in Moderating the Health Consequences of Unemployment
769 Citations1978Susan Gore
It is argued that these study findings demonstrate the exacerbation of life stress by a low sense of social support, and health differences between supported and unsupported populations under stress are commonly interpreted as evidence that support buffers the effects ofLife stress.
Nursing ResearchThe Development of an Instrument to Measure Social Support
742 Citations1981Jane S. Norbeck, Ada M. Lindsey +1 more
A new instrument, the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire, designed to measure multiple dimensions of social support, has three main variables—Total Functional, Total Network, and Total Loss—each with three subscales.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical PsychologyGoing beyond social support: The role of social relationships in adaptation.
570 Citations1986James C. Coyne, Anita DeLongis
Directions for explicating relations among stress, support, and adaptational outcomes are suggested and the current emphasis on the benefits of perceived social support needs to be balanced by consideration of the costs and constraints of participating in social relationships.
Psychological MedicineMeasuring social relationships The Interview Schedule for Social Interaction
561 Citations1980Scott Henderson, Paul Duncan‐Jones +2 more
Data from a general population sample suggest this instrument to be sufficiently valid and reliable, and also sensitive to predictable variations between sociodemographic groups, to justify its use in clinical and epidemiological studies, both in psychiatry and general medicine.
Family ProcessSocial Networks, Support, and Coping: An Exploratory Study
528 Citations1976Christopher Charles Tolsdorf
The results suggest that the network model can be used to investigate the larger social system with which individuals interact and that it may be a valuable approach to the expansion of family research.
Journal of Social IssuesVariations in Social Support Associated with Gender, Ethnicity, and Age
377 Citations1985Alan Vaux
American Journal of Community PsychologySocial support, life stress, and psychological adjustment: A test of the buffering hypothesis
356 Citations1981Brian L. Wilcox
The hypothesis that social support mediates or serves as a buffer between life events and psychological distress was tested for each of the two support measures in combination with the life events measure and all four of the resulting hypotheses were supported.
Health PsychologyAssessment of methods for measuring social support.
250 Citations1988Carma A. Heitzmann, Robert M. Kaplan
23 techniques for assessing social support are reviewed and evaluated, and correlations between various social support and criterion measures are simulated in order to demonstrate the consequences of choosing a measure with low reliability.
Journal of Applied Social PsychologyPerceptions of Social Support in Men with AIDS and ARC: Relationships with Distress and Hardiness<sup>1</sup>
171 Citations1987Jane Zich, Lydia Temoshok
For both persons with AIDS and ARC, the more available social support was perceived to be, the less hopelessness and depression were reported and emotionally-sustaining types of help were rated as more desirable, more available, more frequently used, and more useful when used than were problem-solvingtypes of help.
American Journal of Community PsychologySocial support and adjustment: Predictive benefits of social climate indices
143 Citations1982Charles J. Holahan, Rudolf H. Moos
Results support hypotheses that qualitative measures of support in family and work environments predict psychosomatic complaints and depression after variance due to negative life change and quantitative measures of social support is accounted for.
Schizophrenia BulletinMethodological Issues in Developing a Scale to Measure Social Support
139 Citations1981Allan H. McFarlane, K. A. Neale +3 more
Evaluation of the properties of a Social Relationship Scale (SRS) that was developed as part of a prospective study of the psychosocial influences on the health status of a population is described.
Comprehensive PsychiatryThe measurement of social support: The social support network inventory
111 Citations1983Joseph A. Flaherty, F. Moises Gaviria +1 more
This report presents the rationale, design, and psychometric testing of one instrument-the Social Support Network Inventory (SSNI)--which the authors began developing in 1979, and an excellent review of the methodology of these instruments has been provided by Lin.
Journal of Social and Personal RelationshipsSupportive Relationships: Fact or Fancy?
107 Citations1984Pat O’Connor, George W. Brown
Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyGender differences in predicting loneliness from social network characteristics.
100 Citations1986Joseph P. Stokes, Ira Levin
Schizophrenia BulletinToward a Resolution of Methodological Dilemmas in Network Mapping
83 Citations1981Jay Sokolovsky, Carl I. Cohen
The Network Analysis Profile was designed to resolve methodological dilemmas out of fieldwork with discharged mental patients, and although it has not been completely successful in meeting this goal, it offers distinct advantages over other instruments.
Journal of Adolescent Health CareStressors, coping, and social supports of adolescent mothers
53 Citations1986Susan Panzarine
Findings suggest that the puerperium was not a time of major distress for most of these young women, and factors contributing to a relatively smooth transition to motherhood were the adolescent's use of anticipatory coping prior to the birth, their extensive reliance on family support once at home, and their past experience with childcare.
Child Care Health and DevelopmentPractical and psychological problems for parents of children with epidermolysis bullosa
27 Citations1986Richard Lansdown, David J. Atherton +3 more
Parents of children with epidermolysis bullosa were sent a questionnaire seeking information on problems associated with the condition; 45% replied and their responses are discussed in terms of reported needs.
Journal of Family ViolenceStress-management intervention to prevent family violence
16 Citations1986Steven P. Schinke, Robert Schilling +3 more
Scientific evidence on stress concepts, sources, and treatment strategies are reviewed and the potential of stress-management preventive intervention for reducing the risk of family violence is given.