Assessment of social support among veterans with military-related post-traumatic stress disorder: a study of the Social Support Questionnaire

Abstract

Numerous studies in the past 20 years have found an inverse correlation between social support and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the social support literature is encumbered by a wide-spread inconsistency of social support measurement, with many studies not using existing validated measures. Identifying a valid social support measure with clinical utility among veterans diagnosed with war-related (PTSD) would be a helpful resource for clinicians. Using data from 689 veterans seeking treatment from a VA PTSD program, the reliability, factor structure, and construct validity of the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ; Sarason, Levine, Basham, & Sarason, 1983) were evaluated. The hypothesis of this study was based on the theoretical assumption that social support (as measured by the SSQ), would be inversely correlated with severity of PTSD symptoms (as measured by the Mississippi Scale for War-related PTSD; Keane, Caddell & Taylor, 1988) and depression (as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory; Beck, 1961). In this study, the SSQ scores were found to inversely correlate at a low, but statistically significant level, with both PTSD and depression scores. Principal axes factor analysis found that the two subscales of the SSQ were each measuring one factor. The correlation between the SSQ "N" scores and "s" scores suggest that these subscales are measuring different components of social support. Numerous implications for research and clinical practice are discussed. This study is the first to psychometrically evaluate a measure of current social support for use among war veterans diagnosed with PTSD.