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Measures of Perceived Social Support from Friends and from Family: Three Validation Studies

March 1983
American Journal of Community Psychology 11(1):1-24

Source
PubMed

Authors:

Fordham University

Three studies are described in which measures of perceived social support from friends (PSS-Fr) and from family (PSS-Fa) were developed and validated. The PSS measures were internally consistent and appeared to measure valid constructs that were separate from each other and from network measures. PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa were both inversely related to symptoms of distress and psychopathology but the relationship was stronger for PSS-Fa. PSS-Fr was more closely related to social competence. PSS-Fa was unaffected by either positive or negative mood states (self-statements), but the reporting of PSS-Fr was lowered by negative mood states. High PSS-Fr subjects were significantly lower in trait anxiety and talked about themselves more to friends and sibs than low PSS-Fr subjects. Low PSS-Fa subjects showed marked verbal inhibition with sibs.

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Coping Strategies, Drinking Motives, and Stressful Life Events Among Middle Adolescents: Associations With Emotional and Behavioral Problems and With Academic Functioning

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Full-text available

Nov 1996

A sample of 733 middle adolescents was used to study interrelations among coping strategies, drinking motives, stressful life events (major, daily positive, and daily negative), emotional and behavioral problems, and academic functioning. A main-effects (vs. stress-buffering) model was supported. Some predictors (e.g., task-oriented coping, major stressful events) were general in their predictive relations to the outcome variables, whereas others were highly specific (e.g., emotion-focused coping predicting depressed affect). Overall, the predictors accounted for 22–53% of the variance in regression equations. Positive daily events predicted higher levels of alcohol use, alcohol problems, and delinquent activity, as well as higher academic performance and lower levels of depressed affect.

The Mediating Role of Recreation Experience in the Effect of Leisure Participation on Mental Well-Being

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Nov 2023

The Mediating Role of Recreation Experience in the Effect of Leisure Participation on Mental Well-Being

Relationship of widowhood with pulse pressure, fasting blood glucose, and mental health in older adults: a propensity matching score analysis

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Full-text available

Oct 2023

Background Transitioning from marriage to widowhood presents inevitable and significant challenges for many older adults. This study explored the impact of widowhood on a range of mental health outcomes, including pulse pressure and fasting blood glucose levels, among older adults in nursing homes. Methods This cross-sectional study utilized cluster random sampling to recruit participants, with data analyzed from 388 older Chinese adults. Psychosocial traits were assessed using the Perceived Social Support from Family scale (PSS-Fa) for family support, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) for anxiety symptoms, and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to control for confounding factors. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to explore the relationship between widowhood, mental health outcomes, pulse pressure, and fasting blood glucose levels. Results After applying PSM, the sample size was refined to 268 (N = 134 for both married and widowed groups) from the initial 388, excluding 120 unmatched cases. Widowed older adults were found to have notably lower family support (β = −0.81, p = 0.002), increased depressive symptoms (β = 1.04, p = 0.043), elevated pulse pressure (β = 8.90, p < 0.001), and higher fasting blood glucose levels (β = 3.22, p = 0.027). These associations exhibited greater beta values compared to pre-matching analysis. Conclusion Our findings revealed that widowed participants had reduced family support, an increased risk of depressive symptoms, heightened pulse pressure, and elevated fasting blood glucose in comparison to their married counterparts. Interventions focusing on social support, mental health, and cardiovascular well-being could be advantageous for this at-risk group.

Emergency communications after earthquake reveal social network backbone of important ties

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Nov 2023

Social networks provide a basis for collective resilience to disasters. Combining the quasi-experimental context of a major earthquake in Ya’an, China with anonymized mobile telecommunications records regarding 91,839 Ya’an residents, we use initial bursts of post-disaster communications (e.g., choice of alter, order of calls, latency) to reveal the ‘important ties’ that form the social network backbone. We find that only 26.8% of important ties activated during the earthquake were the strongest ties during normal times. Many important ties were hitherto latent and weak, only to become persistent and strong after the earthquake. We show that which ties activated during a sudden disaster are best predicted by the interaction of embeddedness and tie strength. Moreover, a backbone of important ties alone (without the inclusion of weak ties ordinarily seen as important to bridge communities) is sufficient to generate a hierarchical structure of social networks that connect a disaster zone’s disparate communities.

Getting By With a Little Help From Self and Others: Self-Esteem and Social Support as Resources During Early Adolescence

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Full-text available

Sep 2002

Influences of social support and self-esteem on adjustment in early adolescence were investigated in a 2-year longitudinal study (N = 350). Multi-informant data (youth and parent) were used to assess both overall levels and balance in peer- versus adult-oriented sources for social support and self-esteem. Findings obtained using latent growth-curve modeling were consistent with self-esteem mediating effects of social support on both emotional and behavioral adjustment. Lack of balance in social support and self-esteem in the direction of stronger support and esteem from peer-oriented sources predicted greater levels and rates of growth in behavioral problems. Results indicate a need for process-oriented models of social support and self-esteem and sensitivity to patterning of sources for each resource relative to adaptive demands of early adolescence.

Investigation of the Relationship Between High School Students' Level of Participation in Recreation Activities and Their Time ManagementLise Öğrencilerinin Rekreasyon Aktivitelerine Katılım Düzeyleri ile Zaman Yönetimi Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi

Article

Nov 2023

This study aimed to examine the relationship between recreation participation levels and time management of high school students studying in different high schools. In the study, the relational screening model was used as part of the survey model. The data collection tool of the study consisted of three parts: personal information form, "Recreation Participation Scale" developed by Procidano and Heller (1983) and adapted into Turkish by Sevil (2015) and "Time Management Scale" developed by Britton and Tesser (1991) and translated into Turkish by Alay and Koçak (2002). The study group consisted of students of Incirliova Sports High School, Nazilli Science High School, Bozdoğan İsmet Sezgin Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School and Bozdoğan Anatolian High School in Aydın province in the 2022-2023 academic. Statistically, frequency analysis, reliability coefficient calculations, Pearson correlation analysis and Manova analysis were performed. The analyses were performed by adhering to a 95% confidence interval. A statistically significant difference was detected between the participants' recreational activity and gender, grade and doing sport variables, the cognitive activity sub-dimension and gender variable, the mean score of recreation participation and doing sport variable, and the time management of the participants and gender, high school type, income and doing sport variables (p<0.05). As a result, high school students have moderate levels of participation in recreational activities and time management. Participation of the high school students in recreational activities also decreased as their time management levels increased.

Quality of life, social support, and pathways of care among persons with psychiatric disorders—A cross-sectional study

Article

Nov 2023
Ind Psychiatry J

Background Patients with psychiatric disorders have varied psychosocial realities embedded in the community context. Help-seeking behavior is extremely crucial in determining the prognosis and outcome of interventions. Objectives (1) To assess the levels of quality of life, perceived social support, and decision to first seek help. (2) To assess the association of socio-demographic variables with these domains. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional descriptive survey with 100 psychiatric patients in a tertiary care setting employed three scales, namely WHOQOL-BREF, PSSS, and WHO Pathways Encounter form. Results Patients had higher levels of quality of life and perceived social support. The majority of patients chose health professionals over faith healers at the onset of symptoms, had higher reliance on family members, and continued with hospital visits till the third follow-up. Sex, occupation, and marital status were associated with perceived social support, and duration of illness was associated with help-seeking behavior. Conclusions Community-based interventions must include holistic services and reduce the gap between onset and first contact, leading to higher quality of life and perceived social support.

The Need to Belong, Perceived Social Support, and Parasocial Relationship in Indonesian Anime Fans

Preprint

Jan 2020

Parasocial relationship refers to a phenomenon whereby audiences feel an inkling to long-term and meaningful social relationship through a one-sided, mediated interaction with certain media personae. Through the previous framework, the current study utilizes parasocial relationship as a mechanism which could potentially help the audience at large in fulfilling or substituting their need for meaningful social relationships. In response to this, numerous studies have established the relationship between the need to belong and parasocial relationship. However, most of those studies were conducted in the United States while using college students as its sample. The current study aims to re-investigate the effect of the need to belong on parasocial relationship in Indonesia, while utilizing a broader range of participants, demographic-wise. Furthermore, this study also aims to investigate the effect of perceived social support on parasocial relationship. Participants were 18-25-year-old Indonesians (N=345) who identify themselves as anime fans. The Parasocial Relationship Scale (PSR), the Need to Belong Scale (NTBS), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were administered to analyze the effects of the need to belong and perceived social support on parasocial relationship. An analysis using the multiple linear regression method found that there was a positive and significant effect between the need to belong and parasocial relationship. However, there was no significant effect between perceived social support and parasocial relationship. These findings suggest that other providers of perceived social support—such as the audience’s favorite character—should be incorporated in future research. Nevertheless, evidently, anime might be a useful source to fulfil the audience’s belongingness needs.

Sibling Support

Chapter

Mar 2021

Depressive Symptoms and Cigarette Smoking Among Middle Adolescents: Prospective Associations and Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Influences

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2001

Using data from a 4-wave longitudinal study with a school-based sample of 1,218 middle adolescents, the authors investigated the directionality (e.g., unidirectionality and bidirectionality) of the prospective relationship between depressive symptoms and cigarette use within the context of potential confounding variables and common and unique intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors. Findings indicated that serious and persistent depressive symptoms were prospective predictors of increased cigarette use across time, after controlling for baseline levels of smoking. Similarly, heavy and persistent smoking prospectively predicted increases in depressive symptoms. Intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors of cross-temporal changes in depressive symptoms and cigarette use were more unique than common. Latent growth curve modeling indicated a quadratic trend in adolescent cigarette smoking across time with an initial acceleration followed by a deceleration, though there was substantial intraindividual variation in individual trajectories.

Assessing Perceived Social Support

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Full-text available

Jan 1997

In this chapter, we discuss assessment of perceived social support with respect to three inseparable issues: defining perceived support, selecting particular approaches to assess it, and systematically organizing hypotheses regarding its origins, nature, and effects. Based on a brief history of social support research, we explain our focus on perceived social support. We observe that our understanding of perceived support is still hampered by vague definitions and urge that, because of its importance for theory and intervention, perceived support research must develop beyond tests of its direct, moderating, and mediating effects in different populations. Toward that end, we make three recommendations. First, the perceived support construct should be clarified through hypothesis testing in the context of contemporary psychological paradigms. Cognitive and attachment-theory approaches appear particularly promising in this regard. Second, investigators who construct and use perceived support assessments should be aware of the implicit assumptions and consequences associated with different assessment approaches. Finally, we suggest a conceptual framework to articulate hypotheses regarding perceived support’s origins, nature, and effects. The framework consists of culture, development, personality, social settings, and activities.

Demand characteristics and the Velten mood induction procedure

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