Description

Background:
The MOS Social Support Survey was developed for patients involved in a 2 year study investigating chronic conditions. The survey consists of four separate social support subscales: emotional/informational, tangible, affectionate, and positive social interaction. An overall functional social support index is also used. A higher score for an individual scale or for the overall support index indicates more support. To obtain a score for each subscale, calculate the average of the scores for each item in the subscale. To obtain an overall support index, calculate the average of 1) the scores for all 18 items included in the four subscales, and 2) the score for the one additional item (see last item in the survey). Multitrait scaling analyses supported the dimensionality of four functional support scales.

Developers:
Cathy Donalds Herbourne and Anita L Stewart

References:
Sherbourne, C.D. & Stewart, A.L. (1991). The MOS Social Support Survey, Social Science Medicine, 32, 705-714.

The “User’s Manual for Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Core Measures of Health-Related Quality of Life” summarizes the MOS measures and presents psychometric results from the MOS. It is designed to be a companion to the book, “Measuring Function and Well-Being: The Medical Outcomes Study Approach”:

Hays, RD, Sherbourne, CD, Mazel, RM. (1995). User’s Manual for Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Core Measures of Health-Related Quality of Life, RAND Corporation, MR-162-RC (available at www.rand.org)

Stewart, AL, Ware, JE. (1991). Measuring Function and Well-Being: The Medical Outcome Study Approach, Duke University Press (available for order at www.dukeupress.edu)

Reliability:
All subscales have shown strong reliability over time (all Alphas >0.91).

Cronbach Alpha’s
Emotional/Informational=0.96
Tangible=0.92
Affectionate=0.94
Positive Social Interaction=0.91
Overall General Index=0.97