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Modified Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (mMOS-SS)

The Modified Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (mMOS-SS) is an 8-item self-reported measure of individual experience of social support, with two subscale measures of emotional support, and instrumental support. Items ask respondents about having someone to help with physical needs, and emotional assistance. The mMOS-SS is an abbreviated adaptation of the original 19-item Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SS), which can be viewed here.

Categories

Geographies Tested: United States of America

Populations Included: Female

Age Range: Adults

Items:

ITEMS:

If you needed it, how often is someone available:

  1. to help you if you were confined to bed? (I)
  2. to take you to the doctor if you needed it? (I)
  3. to prepare your meals if you are unable to do it yourself? (I)
  4. to help with daily chores if you were sick? (I)
  5. to have a good time with? (E)
  6. to turn to for suggestions about how to deal with a personal problem? (E)
  7. who understands your problems? (E)
  8. to love and make you feel wanted? (E)

Note: Items pertaining to subscale measures are denoted as: instrumental support (I) and emotional support (E).

Response Options: 1=None of the time. 2=A little of the time. 3=Some of the time. 4=Most of the time. 5=All of the time.

Scoring Procedures

The score for mMOS-SS is calculated as the average score of subscale items transformed to a zero to 100 scale, with higher scores indicating more support.

Original Citation

Moser, A., Stuck, A. E., Silliman, R. A., Ganz, P. A., & Clough-Gorr, K. M. (2012). The eight-item modified Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey: psychometric evaluation showed excellent performance. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 65(10), 1107-1116.


Psychometric Score

Ease of Use Score

Scoring breakdown

Formative Research

Qualitative Research

Existing Literature/Theoretical Framework

Field Expert Input

Cognitive Interviews / Pilot Testing

Reliability

Internal

Test-retest

Interrater

Validity

Content

Face

Criterion (gold-standard)

Construct

KEY

Ease of Use

Readability

Scoring Clarity

Length

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