Table III.

Characteristics of Measures of Social Support and Key Findings Pertinent to Measure Characteristics, Reliability and Validity among Studies with Individuals at Risk For or with HIV/AIDS

Measure of Social Support (Language if Other than English)	Population (Citation)	Key Findings
Access to Resources Scale  • Evaluates support from relatives, non-using friends, and neighbors Subscales:  • Support from family/non-using friends; Support from drug users; Support from program staff	Injection drug users who injected heroin and/or other drugs (Vazan et al., 2012)	Language: English # Items: 25 Factor Analysis: Confirmed subscales and items Alpha: 0.86 Content Validity: Pilot tested concept questions that emerged from 35 in-depth interviews with IDU participants; question wording was assessed by IDU participants; assessed correlations between items and dropped poorly reliable items
Duke-UNC Functional Support Questionnaire (DUFSS)  • Evaluates perceived social support in family medicine settings Subscales  • Perceived social support	HIV+ adults who initiated ARTs in Rwanda (Epino et al., 2012) Palliative care patients (Saracino et al., 2015)	Language: Kinyarwanda (Rwanda) # Items: 8 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.91 Construct Validity:  • MOS-HIV mental health were weakly correlated with DUFSS scores [convergent]  • Depression scores (HSCL-15) correlated inversely with the DUFSS scale (r = −0.30, p<0.0001) [discriminant validity]  • Tested whether scale score predicted clinical indicators of HIV severity (disease stage, body mass index, CD4 cell count). Compared scores with lower physical health scores to those with higher physical health scores. [known group] Language: English # Items: 5 or 14 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.80 (5-item) & 0.91 (14-item) Content Validity: Patients with advanced AIDS as well as advanced cancer patients were recruited to test initial scale questions Construct Validity:  • Assessed correlations between the DUFSS-14 and DUFSS-5 and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQoL), and the Schedule o Attitudes Toward Hastened Death (SAHD). [convergent]   ∘ 5-item: DUFSS-5 and BDI (r= −0.29, p< 0.001); DUFSS-5 and MQoL (r= 0.36, p<0.001); DUFSS-5 and SAHD (r= −0.27, p<0.001)   ∘ 14-item: DUFSS-14 and BDI (r= −0.34, p<0.001); DUFSS-14 and MQoL (r=0.41, p<0.001); DUFSS-14 and SAHS (r= −0.29, p<0.001)
HIV-Negative Social Provisions Scale  •  Evaluates general social support for individuals who are HIV-negative but are partnered with an individual who is HIV-positive Subscales: Not reported	Adult, gay couples (Darbes et al., 2005)	Language: English # Items: 24 Factor Analysis: Not reported Alpha: 0.84 Test -retest: 0.71 Construct Validity:  • Compared scores between HIV+ and HIV− groups [known group] Criterion-related Validity:  •  Greater levels of HIV-specific support predicted less HIV risk behaviors cross-sectionally (F(1, 54) = 7.18, p = 0.01, b = −.166) and longitudinally
HIV-Positive Social Provisions Scale  • Evaluates general social support for individuals who are HIV-positive but are partnered with an individual who is HIV-negative Subscales: Not reported	Adult, gay couples (Darbes et al., 2005)	Language: English # Items: 24 Factor Analysis: Not reported Alpha: 0.87 Test-retest: 0.74 Construct Validity:  • Compared scores between HIV+ and HIV− groups [known group] Criterion-related Validity:  • Greater levels of HIV-specific support predicted less HIV risk behaviors cross-sectionally (F(1, 54) = 7.18, p = 0.01, b = −.166) and longitudinally
Instrument Support Evaluation List  • Examines social support in HIV-positive individuals Subscales:  • Tangible, Appraisal, Emotional	HIV+ individuals in Venezuela attending support groups (Bastardo et al., 2000)	Language: Spanish # Items: 40 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.85 Content Validity:  • Evaluated the original ISEL for language and cultural adaption in Venezuela using in-depth interviews
Medical Outcomes Study – Social Support Survey  • Evaluates social support in individuals with chronic illness Subscales (Kim et al., 2017; Saddiki et al., 2017): Emotional/information; Tangible support; Positive social interaction; Affectionate support Subscales (Yu et al., 2015) Social-emotional support; Tangible support	HIV+ adults who are incarcerated (Kim et al., 2017) HIV+ patients undergoing follow-up at infectious disease clinic in Malaysia (Saddiki et al., 2017) HIV+ adults living in Mainland China (Yu et al., 2015)	Language: English # Items: 19 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items using Rasch model Alpha: 0.90 Construct Validity:  • Assessed validity using Rasch item hierarchy provided by the item difficulty estimates  • Compared the level of social support between men and women using differential item functioning (DIF) and found no difference [known-group] Language: Malay # Items: 19 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.96 Test-retest: 0.88 Content Validity: The translated to Malay version of the MOS-SSS and assessed the equivalence of the translated version to the original English version based on semantic equivalence, idiomatic equivalence, experiential equivalence, and conceptual equivalence. Scale was piloted with convenient sample of HIV patients. Construct Validity  • Compared social support scores for each social support subscale and the overall functional social support between married and non-married patients Language: Mandarin # Items: 19 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.91 – 0.96 Criterion-related Validity:  • Concurrent validity of MOS-SSS tested using Person product-moment correlations with the Beck Depression Inventory Revised (BDI-II) (r = −0.41, p < 0.01), the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) (r = −0.27, p < 0.01), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) (r = −0.30, p <0.01), and WHOQOL-BREF (r = 0.61, p <0.01) Construct Validity:  • Scale assessed using correlation between each item and its respective subscale (item-own subscale). Correlations ranged 0.66 – 0.86. [convergent validity]  • Scale assessed using correlation between item-own subscale correlation with the other item-other subscale correlations. Correlations ranged 0.53 – 0.69. [discriminant]
Perceived Social Support Scale  • Evaluates perceived tangible support from family and friends Subscale: Tangible support	HIV+ adult women (Hudson et al., 2001)	Language: English # Items: 5 Alpha: 0.72 Content Validity: Examined items of against the domains of social support theory
Scale of Perceived Social Support in HIV (PSS-HIV)  • Evaluates HIV/AIDS-related perceived social support Subscales: Belonging, Esteem, Self-development	HIV+ and HIV− adults in the United Kingdom (Cortes et al., 2014) HIV+ and HIV− adults in Chile (Cortes et al., 2014)	Language: English # Items: 12 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.91 Content Validity: Literature review conducted to develop items, experts reviewed for item suitability, and scale was piloted in a sample of PLWH Construct Validity:  • Compared the correlation between scale and the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS). PSS-HIV negatively correlated with anxiety (r= −0.875, p< 0.01) and depression (r= −0.917, p< 0.01) [discriminant]  • Subscale scores showed high correlations between each other and the full scale (r> 0.76, p< 0.01) [convergent]  • Compared mean scores between HIV+ and HIV− samples in the UK (t = −4.13, p< 0.001) [known-group] Language: Spanish # Items: 12 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.93 Content Validity: Translated from Spanish to English and assessed for semantic equivalence. Scale was pilot tested in HIV− and HIV+ samples Construct Validity:  • Compared the correlation between scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). PSS-HIV negatively correlated with anxiety (r= −0.758, p< 0.01) and depression (r= −0.688, p< 0.01) [discriminant]  • Subscale scores showed high correlations between each other and the full scale (r> 0.76, p<0.01) [convergent]  • Compared mean scores between HIV+ and HIV− samples in Chile (t= 1.98, p< 0.049) [known-group]
Social Support for PLWH  • Assesses available social support related to HIV and antiretroviral medications Subscales: Emotional/informational; Adherence support; Instrumental support	Adults living with HIV (Dima et al., 2014)	Language: Kiswahili # Items: 12 Factor Analysis: Alpha: 0.80 Content Validity: Used MOS-SSS items, qualitative work, and clinical experts to develop items, then piloted scale with convenient target sample Construct validity:  • Voluntary disclosure was positively correlated with the emotional/information support subscale (T = .12, p< 0.05), instrumental support was positively correlated with disclosure to spouse/partner (T = .16, p< 0.05) but negatively correlated with disclosure to close family (T= −.14, p< 0.05). Adherence support was uncorrelated with disclosure. [convergent]
Social Support Inventory for People Who are HIV Positive or Have AIDS  • Assesses 3 types of received social support for HIV+ individuals Subscales: Instrumental; Informational; Emotional Within each subscale the following was assessed: Have or whether support is received; Want or whether in individual wants the support; Satisfaction or how satisfied the individual is with support received; Source or who provides support (qualitative)	Adults with HIV/AIDS recruited from clinics in Toronto, Canada (Renwick et al., 1999)	Language: English # Items: 17 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.38 – 0.89 Content Validity: Conducted a literature review, consulted with experts and persons living with HIV, conducted a thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with target group to identify supportive behaviors Construct validity:  • Scores for the Have domains for each factor of support were correlated with the Instrument Support Evaluation List (ISEL) for correlations (r > 0.26; p < 0.01) [criterion-related]
Social Support Questionnaire – Short Form (SSQ-6)  • Assesses available social support Subscales (Prado et al., 2004): Social support Subscale (Robbins et al., 2003): Social network size; Social support satisfaction	HIV+ African American mothers (Prado et al, 2004) HIV+ African American women (Robbins et al., 2003)	Language: English # Items: 6 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.84 Language: English # Items: 6 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.67
UCLA Social Support Inventory (UCLA-SSI)  • Assesses received social support Subscales: Types of support – Advice; Assistance; Reassurance; Listening Sources of support – Friends; Relatives; Partners; Groups	Gay and bisexual men participating in research study (Schwarzer et al., 1994)	Language: English # Items: 24 Factor Analysis: Confirmed scale structure and items Alpha: 0.77 – 0.80 Test-Retest: 0.47 Construct validity:  • Four types of social support were strongly correlated (r > .71) [convergent]  • Four source factors were weakly interrelated [discriminant]
Unsupportive Social Interactions Inventory  • Evaluates unsupportive behavior related to specific stressor, in this case having HIV Subscales:  • Insensitivity; Disconnecting; Forced Optimism; Blaming	Adults living with HIV recruited through university medical center clinics (Ingram et al. 1999)	Language: English # Items: 24 Factor Analysis: Confirmed subscales and items Alpha 0.81 – 0.89 Criterion Validity: Only one significant correlation with Social Support Questionnaire (Sarason et al., 1987) indicating unsupportive social interactions distinct from general support Construct Validity:  • Depression (CES-D) and negative affectivity (PANAS) correlated with higher scores on Insensitivity, Disconnecting and Blaming subscales [convergent]  • After control for physical functioning and general social support (Social Support Questionnaire), USII-18 accounted for 15% of variance in depression (CES-D) (p < 0.001)