Description

The Undergraduate Family Social Support Scale (UFSSS) is a psychological instrument designed to measure the level and quality of social support that undergraduate students receive from their families. Social support is a critical factor influencing students’ well-being, academic performance, and mental health. The UFSSS provides a way to quantify the perceived family support, which can be essential for research on student development and for interventions aimed at improving student outcomes.

Components:

The UFSSS typically consists of several subscales that measure different dimensions of family support. Common dimensions may include:

Emotional Support – Measures the emotional encouragement and comfort the student feels from their family.

Instrumental Support – Assesses the practical help provided by the family, such as financial aid or help with day-to-day tasks.

Informational Support – Captures the degree to which families offer advice, guidance, or information that helps students solve problems.

Appraisal Support – Reflects the feedback provided by family members, which can validate students’ self-worth and decision-making.

Each item in the UFSSS is typically rated on a Likert scale, ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree,” allowing respondents to express the intensity of the support they perceive in various aspects of their family life.

Data Analysis and Use

The data collected through the UFSSS can be analyzed in various ways, depending on the research questions or goals. Some common approaches include:

Descriptive Statistics – Mean, median, and standard deviations for each subscale can be calculated to understand the overall level of support perceived by students.

Reliability Analysis – Cronbach’s Alpha is often used to check the internal consistency of the scale, ensuring that the items in each subscale are measuring the same construct.

Factor Analysis – This can be used to validate the structure of the scale by confirming the presence of distinct subscales.

Correlational Analysis – Researchers may explore the relationship between family social support and other variables, such as academic performance, mental health, stress levels, or social adjustment.

Comparative Analysis – Differences in perceived family support may be examined across various groups (e.g., gender, socioeconomic status, first-generation college students) using t-tests, ANOVA, or other statistical tests.

Calibration

The calibration process for the UFSSS involves validating the scale for use within a specific population. This may include:

Piloting the scale with a small sample of undergraduate students to test the clarity and relevance of the items.

Validity Testing, such as construct validity and criterion validity, to ensure the scale accurately measures family social support.

Cultural Adaptation if the scale is to be used in diverse cultural settings, ensuring that items are relevant and understandable to different family structures and cultural norms.

Norm Development through the collection of data from large samples to establish normative scores that can be used for comparative purposes.

Bibliography

Here are some key references related to the use of family social support scales and their applications:

House, J. S. (1981). Work Stress and Social Support. Addison-Wesley Publishing.

Discusses the broader role of social support in stress and coping, which is foundational for understanding family support’s impact on student well-being.

Cutrona, C. E., & Russell, D. W. (1990). Type of social support and specific stress: Toward a theory of optimal matching. In I.G. Sarason, B. R. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.), Social Support: An Interactional View (pp. 319-366). Wiley.

Provides a theoretical framework for different types of social support, which could be relevant for interpreting UFSSS data.

Tardy, C. H. (1985). Social Support Measurement. American Journal of Community Psychology, 13(2), 187-202.

Offers insights into the complexities of measuring social support, relevant for understanding the construction and validation of the UFSSS.

Malecki, C. K., & Demaray, M. K. (2003). Measuring perceived social support: Development of the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS). Psychology in the Schools, 40(1), 1-14.

Discusses another social support scale that can offer insights into developing and calibrating tools like the UFSSS.

Sarason, I. G., Sarason, B. R., Shearin, E. N., & Pierce, G. R. (1987). A Brief Measure of Social Support: Practical and Theoretical Implications. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 4(4), 497-510.

Reviews brief measures of social support, providing a practical approach that could complement longer scales like the UFSSS.