Scale of Perceived Social Support – Family

Abstract

The Scale of Perceived Social Support-Family (SPS S-F) is a brief, self-report psychometric instrument developed by Canty-Mitchell and Zimet in 2000. It is designed to measure an individual’s subjective perception of the availability and adequacy of support received specifically from their family unit. This scale is a highly focused subcomponent derived from the broader Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The SPS S-F employs a short set of items using a 5-point Likert response format, making it an efficient tool for research contexts, particularly those involving adolescent mental health and coping mechanisms.

Keywords

Social Support, Family Support, Perceived Support, Psychometrics, Adolescent Health, Psychological Assessment, Canty-Mitchell, Zimet.

Authors

Canty-Mitchell, J., Zimet, G. D.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Scale of Perceived Social Support-Family is to quantify the degree to which an individual feels supported, valued, and comforted by their immediate family members. This measure is critical in psychological and community research because perceived support acts as a powerful protective factor against stress, depression, and poor coping outcomes, especially among vulnerable populations like adolescents.

By focusing exclusively on the family domain, the instrument allows researchers and clinicians to isolate and assess this specific source of support, offering insights into family dynamics and their impact on well-being. It is frequently utilized in large-scale studies to determine the influence of familial relationships on mental health outcomes.

Construct

The SPS S-F measures the specific psychological construct of Perceived Social Support within the family context. Unlike objective measures that tally actual support transactions, perceived support is defined as the subjective belief that emotional and instrumental resources are available when needed. This perception, rather than the reality of support, is often a stronger predictor of positive psychological adjustment.

The items of the scale are designed to tap into feelings of comfort, availability, and care provided by a “special person” (implicitly a family member in this subscale). This focus ensures that the scale captures the internalized sense of security derived from strong familial bonds, which is a fundamental aspect of the construct of Social Support.

Validity

The original psychometric investigations conducted by Canty-Mitchell and Zimet (2000) demonstrated strong support for the validity of the overall multidimensional instrument, which includes the Family subscale. Evidence for construct validity is supported by the scale’s expected theoretical correlations with related measures, showing that higher perceived family support is linked to better self-esteem and reduced incidence of psychological distress in the target population.

Furthermore, the scale exhibits adequate convergent validity, correlating positively with other established instruments that measure family cohesion and positive relationships. These findings confirm that the Scale of Perceived Social Support-Family accurately measures the intended construct and not extraneous variables.

Reliability

The SPS S-F demonstrates high levels of internal consistency, indicating that the individual items reliably measure the same underlying construct of family support. According to the foundational research, the internal consistency, measured by Alpha coefficients (Cronbach’s Alpha), for both the subscales and the total scale has been consistently found to be in the strong range, specifically between 0.78 and 0.92. This high reliability suggests that the scale items are homogeneous and dependable for use across various research settings.

Factor Analysis

The Scale of Perceived Social Support-Family is structurally derived from the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Factor analytic studies (both Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis) conducted on the full MSPSS consistently confirm a three-factor structure: Support from Family, Support from Friends, and Support from a Significant Other. The items specific to the SPS S-F reliably load onto the single, distinct Family Support factor.

This empirical evidence confirms the conceptual independence of the family support domain from other sources of social support. The clear factor structure validates the use of the SPS S-F as a focused, unidimensional measure when researchers are specifically interested in isolating the influence of familial support.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire / Psychometric scale.

Format: The scale uses a five-point Likert response format for each item. Scoring involves summing the point values across the four items, with higher scores indicating greater perceived family support.

Language Available: Primarily English, but widely translated and validated across numerous languages due to the utility of the parent MSPSS scale.

Population Group: Clinical and non-clinical populations.

Age Group: Primarily adolescents and young adults.

Population Details: Originally validated on urban adolescents, the scale is suitable for use with older children through adulthood, provided the family structure context is appropriate.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of agreement or frequency regarding the availability of family support based on the following assigned point values:

1. Rarely or Never
2. A Little Bit
3. Sometimes
4. A Good Part of the Time
5. Always

Keywords

Internal Consistency, Cronbach’s Alpha, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Family dynamics, Social Support, Assessment Tool.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source.

Correspondence Address: Refer to original publication (Canty-Mitchell & Zimet, 2000) for primary author contact information.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Scale of Perceived Social Support-Family was formally introduced in 2000. The parent instrument (MSPSS) is widely used in academic and non-commercial research and is often available without a fee. Users intending to utilize the SPS S-F subscale should consult the original Canty-Mitchell and Zimet publication or contact the authors for precise permissions regarding commercial or widespread administration.

Reference’s

• Canty-Mitchell, J & Zimet, G. D. (2000). Psychometric properties of the multidimensional scale of perceived social support in urban adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28 (3), 391- 403.
• The instrument can be found on page 88-89 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.

Items of the Scale of Perceived Social Support-Family

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

1. There is a special personwho is around when Iam in need.
2. There is a special personwith whom I can share my joys and sorrows.
3. I have a special person who is a real source of comfort to me.
4. There is a special person in my life who cares about my feelings..