Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Aug;36(4):845-51.
doi: 10.1111/j.1447-0756.2010.01204.x.

Multidimensional scale of perceived social support: psychometric properties in a South Asian population

Athfah Akhtar  1 , Atif Rahman, Meher Husain, Imran B Chaudhry, Venu Duddu, Nusrat Husain
Affiliations

Multidimensional scale of perceived social support: psychometric properties in a South Asian population

Athfah Akhtar et al. J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2010 Aug.

Abstract

Aim: The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) was developed to assess perceived social support, and has been widely used in Western samples. We attempted to translate and adapt this scale into the Urdu language, and herewith report on its psychometric properties in a rural Pakistani setting.

Methods: The study sample consisted of 325 antenatal women who were registered with 'Lady Health Workers' in the Kallar Circle of Rawalpindi district. The subjects were assessed pre- and postnatally with measures of psychiatric distress, and social support and depression, respectively (using a guided structured interview).

Results: MSPSS scores were inversely related to measures of psychiatric distress and depression, thus supporting the construct validity of the MSPSS as a measure of social support. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of MSPSS was 0.92. Unlike previous research using the MSPSS in Western studies, the factor analysis revealed a single-factor solution that accounted for 53% of the variance.

Conclusions: The Urdu translation of the MSPSS was found to have good construct validity, and internal consistency. However, the findings suggest that women in the study population perceived social support as a unitary construct, as opposed to a tri-dimensional one as identified in Western samples.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types