Close Friend Support Subscale

Abstract

The Close Friend Support Subscale is a specialized component of the larger Social Support Scale for Children, originally developed by Susan Harter in 1985. This six-item subscale is designed to measure a child’s perception of the quality and availability of support derived specifically from their closest friend. It assesses critical dimensions such as companionship, emotional availability, understanding, and the ability to confide in a friend regarding personal problems. The instrument utilizes a structured, forced-choice format to minimize socially desirable responding, making it a valuable tool in developmental psychology and clinical assessment of childhood relationships.

Keywords

Social support, close friends, childhood, adolescence, peer relationships, psychological assessment, Susan Harter, perceived support, psychometrics

Authors

Susan Harter

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Close Friend Support Subscale is to quantify the level of perceived emotional and instrumental support that a child receives from their closest peer relationship. Unlike measures that aggregate support across various sources (parents, teachers, peers generally), this subscale isolates the perceived efficacy of a single, crucial relationship—the close friend.

The results provide researchers and clinicians with insight into the child’s feeling of connectedness and security within their immediate peer environment. This information is vital for understanding how peer relationships may buffer stress or contribute to resilience during childhood and early adolescence.

Construct

The scale measures the construct of perceived **Close Friend Support**, which is a critical domain within the broader theory of social support. This construct encompasses several core aspects of friendship quality, including:

• Availability for problem-solving (being able to tell a friend a problem).
• Emotional understanding and validation (a friend who really understands them).
• Companionship and shared activity (liking to spend time with the friend).
• Active listening and empathy (a friend who really listens and cares about their feelings).

The design, utilizing a bipolar, forced-choice format, is intended to capture the child’s true experience by forcing them to choose between two opposing statements related to the presence or absence of this supportive relationship.

Validity

Specific validity data for the six-item Close Friend Support Subscale is generally inferred from the extensive psychometric literature supporting the parent instrument, the **Social Support Scale for Children (SSSC)**. Harter’s scales typically demonstrate strong face validity, as items are phrased using language appropriate for the target age group, focusing directly on observable or experienced aspects of friendship.

Construct validity is supported by consistent findings in larger studies showing that higher scores on the subscale correlate positively with measures of self-worth, positive affect, and overall psychological adjustment, and negatively with indicators of loneliness or depression in children. Further validation often involves demonstrating that the subscale successfully differentiates between children with strong, supportive peer networks and those who report isolation.

Reliability

Like validity, specific internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) and test-retest reliability figures for this exact subscale are usually found within comprehensive reports on the full SSSC. Given the established reputation of Harter’s measures, the subscale is expected to possess acceptable to strong reliability coefficients. High internal consistency ensures that all six items are measuring the same underlying construct of close friend support.

Factor Analysis

The Social Support Scale for Children (SSSC), from which this subscale is derived, has consistently demonstrated a multi-dimensional factor structure through factor analysis, confirming that support is perceived differently across various sources (e.g., parents, teachers, classmates, close friends). The Close Friend subscale typically loads cleanly onto its own factor, distinguishing the specific support gained from a single peer from the more generalized peer support or adult support factors. This factor separation confirms the scale’s ability to measure the unique contribution of the close friend relationship to the child’s overall social support system.

Instrument

Test Type: Psychological scale / Self-report inventory

Format: Structured, 6-item, forced-choice format with a 4-point response scale (Really True for Me/Sort of True for Me).

Language Available: English (Original)

Population Group: Children and Youth

Age Group: Typically utilized with elementary and middle school-aged children (specific age ranges depend on the study).

Population Details: This instrument is suitable for use in school, community, and clinical settings to assess the quality of peer relationships.

Test Methodology: Respondents are presented with opposing statements and must choose which statement is most like them, then indicate whether that choice is “Really True” or “Sort of True” for them. Scoring involves assigning point values (1 to 4) and utilizing reverse coded scoring for specific items before summation.

Keywords

Harter, Social Support Scale for Children, peer support, self-report, emotional availability, psychometric instrument, Denver

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: University of Denver, University Park, Denver, CO 80208, Ph: 303 871-2000

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed in **1985**. Permission is generally **not needed** to use this scale, although the author, Dr. Susan Harter, requests proper acknowledgement and citation when the instrument is employed in research or practice. There is typically no fee associated with the research use of this specific subscale.

This instrument can be found on pages 135-136 of Assessing Outcomes in Child and Youth Programs: A Practical Handbook, available online at: http://fyi.uwex.edu/topic/youth/. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://4h.uwex.edu/evaluation/documents/ChildYouthOutcomeHandbook2005.pdf

Reference’s

Harter, S. (1985). Social Support Scale for Children. University of Denver, University Park, Denver, CO 80208.

The scoring system assigns point values as follows (Responses are summed to produce a final score):

• 1 = Really True for Me
• 2 = Sort of True for Me
• 3 = Sort of True for Me
• 4 = Really True for Me

Items 1, 2, and 3 are reverse coded.

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Items of the Close Friend Support Subscale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Some kids have a close friend who they can tell a problem to. BUT Other kids don’t have a close friend who they can tell a problem to.

2. Some kids have a close friend who really understands them. BUT Other kids don’t have a close friend who really understands them.

3. Some kids don’t have a close friend who they like to spend time with. BUT Other kids do have a close friend who they like to spend time with.

4. Some kids have a close friend who they can talk to about things that bother them. BUT Other kids don’t have a close friend who they can talk to about things that bother them.

5. Some kids don’t have a close friend who really listens to what they say. BUT Other kids do have a close friend who really listens to what they say.

6. Some kids don’t have a close friend who cares about their feelings. BUT Other kids do have a close friend who cares about their feelings.