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Validity Evidence for a Perceived Social Support Measure in a Population Health Context

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Validity and Validation in Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 54))

Abstract

The Medical Outcomes Study-Social Support Scale (MOS-SS) is a self-report measure of perceived social support. It was originally developed to assess perceived social support in a longitudinal study of patients’ medical outcomes. Recently, the MOS-SS was adopted by population health researchers. The purpose of population health research is to examine predictors of various health outcomes within and between populations. The aim of the present study was to investigate validation practices in population health and compare them to measurement standards common to psychology and education. To do this, we examined the published research that evaluated MOS-SS score validity. Findings indicated that few validity studies were conducted with samples most relevant to population health research. We discuss these findings and make suggestions for future population health research validation practices.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The authors note that the boundaries of these fields are not concrete as findings from psychological and educational research may apply to populations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Counseling Psychology Program, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, and Special Education, The University of British Columbia, 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Daniel W. Cox & Jess J. Owen

Authors
  1. Daniel W. Cox
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  2. Jess J. Owen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel W. Cox .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology (MERM) Program, Department of Educational and Counseling, Psychology, and Special Education, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Bruno D. Zumbo

  2. Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology (MERM) Program Department of Educational and Counseling, Psychology, and Special Education, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Eric K.H. Chan

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Cox, D.W., Owen, J.J. (2014). Validity Evidence for a Perceived Social Support Measure in a Population Health Context. In: Zumbo, B., Chan, E. (eds) Validity and Validation in Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 54. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07794-9_13

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