MOS Social Support Survey

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Overview

Purpose
To assess social support
Respondent
Person with a Disability
Administration Method
Interview
Administration Mode
Phone
0
Populations
  • Mental Health Challenges
  • Age Related Disability

Instrument Citation(s)

Sherbourne, C.D., & Stewart, A.L. (1991). The MOS social support survey. Social science and medicine,
32(6), 705-714.

Sherbourne, Cathy D. and Anita Stewart. The MOS Social Support Survey. Santa Monica, CA: RAND
Corporation, 1993. https://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/RP218.html

Psychometric Citation

  • Sherbourne, C.D., & Stewart, A.L. (1991). The MOS social support survey. Social science and medicine,
    32(6), 705-714.

    Type of Publication
    Peer review
    Instrument Language
    English
    Sample: Age (Mean and Range)

    Mean age=55, range from 18-98

    Sample: Age Group

    18-64 Years, 65+ Years

    Sample: Countries/State

    United States

    Sample: Disability Type

    Other

    Sample: Gender (%male)

    39% male

    Sample: Race/Ethnicity (%)

    20% nonwhite

    Sample: Sampling Strategy

    Stratified Random Sample

    Sample: Size

    2987

    Reliability: Internal Consistency

    Cronbach's alpha for overall support (α=0.97); emotional/info support (α=0.96); tangible support (α=0.92); positive interaction (α=0.94); affection (α=0.91);

    Reliability: Test-retest

    One year stability coefficient for overall support (r=0.78), emotional/info support (r=0.72); tangible support (r=0.74); positive interaction (r=0.72); affection (r=0.76);

    Validity: Construct (Convergent and Discriminant)

    Confirmatory factor analysis showed factors loadings above .76 for all subscales.

    Validity: Criterion Validity (Concurrent and Predictive)

    The social support measures correlate highly with the measure of loneliness (r=-.67) and mental health (r=0.45)

    Study design
    Longitudinal