Interpersonal Support Evaluation List – 12

Abstract

The Interpersonal Support Evaluation List 12 (ISEL-12) is a modified, short-form measure derived from the original 40-item Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL). It is designed to assess an individual’s perceived availability of different functional components of social support. Respondents evaluate the extent to which statements describing the availability of support systems in their lives are true or false. The scale utilizes a 4-point Likert response format and does not specify a particular time frame or referent period for evaluation.

Keywords

Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, ISEL-12, social support, appraisal support, belonging support, tangible support, perceived availability, psychological assessment, psychometrics.

Authors

Sheldon Cohen, Roy Memelstein, Thomas Kamarck, Harris Hoberman.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the ISEL, and its modified 12-item version, is to quantify the perceived availability of key functional components of social support. The original conceptualization targeted four specific types: appraisal, belonging, self-esteem, and tangible support. Research utilizing measures of social support availability, such as the ISEL, has consistently linked higher scores to beneficial health outcomes, including reduced mortality rates and improved psychological state.

The ISEL-12 specifically retains items focusing on appraisal, belonging, and tangible support. The original self-esteem subscale was excluded in this modified version because it was found to overlap substantially with dedicated measures of self-esteem. This streamlined version allows researchers to efficiently gauge crucial aspects of an individual’s perceived support network through 12 highly loaded items.

Construct

The ISEL-12 measures the psychological construct of perceived functional social support. This is defined not by the actual support received, but by the individual’s perception or belief that various forms of support would be available if needed. The scale is structured around three distinct subcomponents of this construct, each measured by four items:

• Appraisal Support: The perceived availability of someone who can be turned to for advice, guidance, or feedback regarding personal or family problems.
• Belonging Support: The perceived availability of people to socialize with, engage in leisure activities with, or simply spend time with, reflecting a sense of social integration and companionship.
• Tangible Support: The perceived availability of concrete aid or instrumental assistance, such as help with practical tasks like chores, moving, or transportation during emergencies.

By focusing on perceived availability, the ISEL-12 captures a stable characteristic of an individual’s belief system regarding their social environment, which is highly relevant to stress-buffering models in health psychology and clinical research.

Validity

The validity of the ISEL-12 has been substantiated through its relationships with other related measures, indicating strong construct validity. The measure correlates positively with other established scales designed to assess supportive behaviors, such as the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors.

Furthermore, the scale demonstrates strong external associations with relationship quality measures, showing positive correlation with the reported number of close friends and with measures of the quality of marital relationships, such as the Partner Adjustment Scale. The individual subscales also exhibit predicted convergence with related trait measures: for example, the appraisal subscale correlates positively with measures of self-disclosure.

Reliability

The ISEL demonstrates strong internal consistency reliability, assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, across different participant populations. These reliability estimates confirm that the items within the scale consistently measure the intended construct of perceived social support.

• For samples consisting of undergraduate students, the reported alpha coefficients range from .77 to .86.
• For samples drawn from the general population, the internal consistency estimates are particularly robust, ranging from .88 to .90.

Factor Analysis

The ISEL-12 is a product of modification based on factor analytic findings of the original 40-item ISEL. The original scale measured four factors (Appraisal, Belonging, Self-Esteem, and Tangible). The short form selected the four highest-loading items for each of the three retained subscales.

The Self-Esteem subscale was deliberately excluded from the ISEL-12 because empirical analyses indicated a significant conceptual overlap with established, dedicated measures of self-esteem. This refinement resulted in a more parsimonious, 12-item instrument focusing purely on the functional components of interpersonal support that are distinct from global self-worth.

Instrument

Test Type: Psychological self-report inventory (Modified Short Form)

Format: 12 items utilizing a 4-point Likert scale. Response options are 0 = Definitely False; 1 = Probably False; 2 = Probably True; 3 = Definitely True.

Language Available: English (Original)

Population Group: General population, widely utilized in health and social psychology research.

Age Group: Adolescents and adults.

Population Details: Psychometric properties have been verified across diverse samples, including university students and the broader community.

Test Methodology: The scale is administered as a questionnaire requiring respondents to assess the truthfulness of statements about their social resources. The total score is calculated by summing the scores of all 12 items after reverse-coding specified items. Scores can also be calculated for the three distinct subscales: Appraisal, Belonging, and Tangible support. Further details are available online: http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~scohen/ISEL12.html

Keywords

Psychological instrument, perceived support, appraisal, belonging, tangible, internal consistency, validity, psychosocial measure, interpersonal relationships.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source.

Correspondence Address: Not specified in source.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The original Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL) was published in 1985 by Cohen, Memelstein, Kamarck, & Hoberman. The ISEL-12 is a widely used academic modification. For commercial use or specific permissions, researchers should contact the primary author, Sheldon Cohen, or the publisher of the foundational reference.

Reference’s

• Cohen, S., Memelstein, R., Kamarck, T., & Hoberman, H. (1985). Measuring the functional components of social support. In I.G. Sarason & B. Sarason (Eds.), Social support: Theory, research and application (pp. 73-94). The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
• Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310–357.
• Rosenberg, M., Orth-Gomer, K., Wedel, H., & Wilhemsen, L. (1993). Stress and social support in relation to mortality in men with suspected myocardial infarction. American Journal of Epidemiology, 137(8), 903–914.

Items of the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List 12

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

Instructions: This scale is made up of a list of statements each of which may or may not be true about you. For each statement circle “definitely true” if you are sure it is true about you and “probably true” if you think it is true but are not absolutely certain. Similarly, you should circle “definitely false” if you are sure the statement is false and “probably false” if you think it is false but are not absolutely certain.

Scaling: 1. definitely false, 2. probably false, 3. probably true, 4. definitely true.

Scoring Key:

• Reversed Items: 1, 2, 7, 8, 11, 12
• Appraisal Subscale: Sum items: 2R, 4, 6, 11R
• Belonging Subscale: Sum items: 1R, 5, 7R, 9
• Tangible Subscale: Sum items: 3, 8R, 10, 12R
• Overall Support: Sum of 3 Subscales

1. If I wanted to go on a trip for a day (for example, to the country or mountains), I would have a hard time finding someone to go with me.
2. I feel that there is no one I can share my most private worries and fears with.
3. If I were sick, I could easily find someone to help me with my daily chores.
4. There is someone I can turn to for advice about handling problems with my family.
5. If I decide one afternoon that I would like to go to a movie that evening, I could easily find someone to go with me.
6. When I need suggestions on how to deal with a personal problem, I know someone I can turn to.
7. I don’t often get invited to do things with others.
8. If I had to go out of town for a few weeks, it would be difficult to find someone who would look after my house or apartment (the plants, pets, garden, etc.).
9. If I wanted to have lunch with someone, I could easily find someone to join me.
10. If I was stranded 10 miles from home, there is someone I could call who could come and get me.
11. If a family crisis arose, it would be difficult to find someone who could give me good advice about how to handle it.
12. If I needed some help in moving to a new house or apartment, I would have a hard time finding someone to help me.