The Social Support Network Inventory (SSNI) measures the availability of support, practical help, emotional support, and reciprocity within the respondent’s five most important relationships. Although other measures offer specific questions related to social support, at the time of the publishing of the source article, less measures existed to quantitatively measure social support. For this reason, the SSNI was developed to address this need.
Measures Registry
Social Support Network Inventory (SSNI)
Description
Purpose
The SSNI measures the availability of social support by providing an evaluation of the social environment as a predictor of physical and psychological health.
Target Population
Source Article Population
Population listed is based on the sample measured in the source article.
Nonpatients, students, members of urban neighborhood, and members of religious commune
Year of Publication
1983
Reference
Flaherty, J. A., Gaviria, F. M., & Pathak, D. S. (1983). The measurement of social support: The Social Support Network Inventory. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 24(6), 521-529. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-440x(83)90019-6
Number of Items
11
Scale Types (Likert=Likert Type; MC=Multiple Choice; T/F=True/False; OR=Open Response)
Likert Type
Likert: 1 = No support to 5 = High support
Subscales
Availability
Practical Help
Reciprocity
Emotional Support
Event-related Support
Scoring
The scoring of the SSNI is on a 5-point scale, with five indicating high support and one indicating no support. The scores on all individual items are summed, with higher scores on the scale indicating greater levels of social support.
Administration
Self-Administered
Readability/ Literacy Level
N/A
Reliability
Cronbach's alpha was used to assess reliability of the SSNI. These values ranged from 0.760 to 0.906 for the entire scale and its subscales, demonstrating relatively strong reliability of the SSNI. Additional information can be found in the "Psychometric Testing" section of the source article.
Pearson product-moment correlations were used to measure the test-retest reliability of the SSNI among participants who completed the measure again after a 2-week period. The correlation coefficient was 0.87, demonstrating strong test-retest reliability of the SSNI.
Validity
Convergent validity was measured by calculating a Pearson product-moment correlation to compare participant responses to the SSNI with clinician report of the strength of the participant's existing social support system. The Pearson product-moment correlation between the SSNI and the clinician's report was 0.68 and statistically significant, demonstrating moderate convergent validity of the SSNI.
Concurrent validity was analyzed by comparing two groups from the same community and measuring their SSNI scores. The scores between the two groups were statistically significantly different, demonstrating concurrent validity of the SSNI. Additional information can be found in the "Psychometric Testing" section.
Limitations
N/A
Availability
Proprietary
Cost
Free
Available, permission needed from:
https://wausm.education/md-program/faculty/meet-our-faculty-and-staff/dr-joseph-flaherty/
Other Considerations
N/A