Vaux Social Support Record

Abstract

The Vaux Social Support Record (VSSR) is a concise assessment tool developed by Alan Vaux in 1988, designed to measure the perceived availability and satisfaction with social support among young individuals. The scale operationalizes social support within a comprehensive theoretical framework that views it as a transactional process involving resources, behavior, and appraisals.

The nine-item instrument evaluates three key sources of support (school adults, family, and friends) across three functional domains: emotional care, advice/guidance, and practical assistance. The VSSR is primarily used with elementary school students (grades 1-6) to assess social factors contributing to distress and overall psychological well-being, making it a valuable tool for psychologists, sociologists, and service providers.

Keywords

Social support, perceived support, emotional support, practical support, guidance, elementary school, youth assessment, Vaux, psychological well-being.

Authors

Alan Vaux

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Vaux Social Support Record (VSSR) is to provide a brief, multi-domain measure of perceived social support satisfaction tailored for young populations. It aims to quantify the level of positive appraisal youths feel regarding the support received from critical social network members, specifically distinguishing between support derived from family, friends, and school personnel.

This instrument is utilized by researchers and clinical practitioners studying the influence of social resources on developmental outcomes, particularly in relation to distress, adjustment, and overall well-being. By assessing satisfaction across different sources and functions of support, the VSSR facilitates the identification of specific environmental weaknesses that may require targeted intervention efforts.

Construct

The VSSR measures the psychological construct of perceived social support. Vaux’s foundational theory conceptualizes social support as a dynamic transactional process. This process involves the interaction between available network resources, the specific behaviors enacted by supporters, and the recipient’s subjective appraisal of the quality and availability of that support.

The scale specifically assesses three functional types of support within three structural contexts:

• Emotional Support: Measured by items concerning caring about feelings and general concern.
• Advice/Guidance Support: Measured by items regarding suggestions and counsel about problems.
• Practical/Instrumental Support: Measured by items related to tangible help, such as assistance with projects or transportation.

Validity

Specific published validity studies directly pertaining to the nine-item VSSR are not detailed in the source material derived from Vaux (1988). However, the instrument demonstrates strong Content Validity, as the items are rigorously derived from Vaux’s comprehensive theoretical model of social support, ensuring adequate coverage of critical functional and structural domains.

The scale’s structure aligns with established literature on youth development and the importance of proximal support systems (family, peers, school). Further research would typically establish Construct Validity by examining the VSSR’s relationship with measures of psychological distress, resilience, and positive coping mechanisms in the target population of elementary school students.

Reliability

Specific reliability coefficients, such as measures of internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) or test-retest reliability, were not provided in the original source documentation for this brief, nine-item version of the VSSR. Given that support measures can be sensitive to developmental stage and context, researchers utilizing this instrument are strongly advised to establish and report appropriate reliability metrics for their specific youth sample before drawing definitive conclusions.

Factor Analysis

Formal data resulting from exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis of the nine-item Vaux Social Support Record is not presented in the primary reference sources. Based on the instrument’s design, the scale is implicitly structured to capture variability across nine specific support dimensions (3 sources x 3 functions).

Psychometric evaluation would typically investigate whether the VSSR yields a single, highly correlated factor representing overall perceived social support satisfaction, or whether it yields distinct, measurable factors corresponding to the three functional types of support or the three structural sources.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report inventory measuring perceived satisfaction with social support.

Format: 9 Likert-style statements.

Language Available: English (based on the source documentation).

Population Group: Youths.

Age Group: Elementary school students, generally encompassing grades 1 through 6.

Population Details: Focused on assessing support networks critical during the early and middle childhood educational years, including family, peers, and school professionals.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with the statements using a 3-point scale:

1. Not at all = 1
2. Some = 2
3. A lot = 3

Point values are summed to yield a total score. A high score indicates a high level of perceived social support, while a low score indicates a low level of perceived social support.

Keywords

Vaux Social Support Record, VSSR, perceived social support, youth violence prevention, psychological measurement, scale items, social epidemiology.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Information not provided in the source.

Affiliation Email addresses: Information not provided in the source.

Correspondence Address: Information not provided in the source.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1988 (Based on the publication year of the foundational text).

Permissions and Fees: Information regarding specific current usage fees or licensing requirements for the VSSR is not detailed in the source documentation. The instrument was compiled in a volume related to youth violence prevention published by the CDC, suggesting potential availability for non-commercial research use. Users seeking formal permission should consult Alan Vaux or the publisher of the foundational text, Praeger.

Reference’s

Vaux A. Social support: theory, research, and intervention. New York, NY: Praeger, 1988.

The instrument is documented on page 152 of “Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools.” The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf.

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Items of the Vaux Social Support Record

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

1. At school, there are adults I can talk to, who care about my feelings and what happens to me.
2. At school, there are adults I can talk to, who give good suggestions and advice about my problems.
3. At school, there are adults who help me with practical problems, like helping me get somewhere or helping with a project.
4. There are people in my family I can talk to, who care about my feelings and what happens to me.
5. There are people in my family I can talk to, who give good suggestions and advice about my problems.
6. There are people in my family who help me with practical problems, like helping me get somewhere or help me with a job or project.
7. I have friends I can talk to, who care about my feelings and what happens to me.
8. I have friends I can talk to, who give good suggestions and advice about my problems.
9. I have friends who help me with practical problems, like how to get somewhere, or help me with a job.