Instrument Description

The Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (ISSI) is an interview-based assessment instrument used to evaluate social support and social relationships, with particular emphasis on the availability and perceived quality of an individual’s social contacts.

The ISSI focuses on two fundamental aspects of social support: the availability of social contacts and satisfaction with those contacts. In this way, the instrument considers not only the extent of an individual’s social network but also the degree to which existing relationships are perceived as supportive and satisfactory.

According to the source framework, the ISSI examines both quantitative and qualitative aspects of social interaction, providing a broader representation of an individual’s social environment and perceived support.

Dimensions of Social Support

The ISSI examines two important aspects of social relationships:

Quantitative Aspects: These concern the number and frequency of an individual’s social contacts and provide information regarding the availability and extent of the person’s social network.

Qualitative Aspects: These concern the quality of support received through social relationships, including the level of emotional and practical support available to the individual.

Considering these aspects together allows the instrument to provide a more comprehensive representation of the individual’s social relationships and support network.

Objective

The primary objective of the ISSI is to measure the social support individuals receive and assess their level of satisfaction with that support.

The instrument is intended to evaluate both the quality and quantity of social contacts and the extent to which these relationships provide emotional and practical support.

Through this approach, the ISSI can contribute to a more systematic understanding of the individual’s social network, available interpersonal resources, and subjective satisfaction with social support.

Data Analysis and Use

ISSI data are collected through structured interviews, during which participants respond to questions concerning their social relationships and the support they receive from their social environment.

Responses are quantitatively scored and analyzed to provide a more detailed examination of the individual’s social relationships.

According to the source document, statistical analysis may include:

Descriptive Statistics: Used to examine the basic characteristics of social contacts and social support.

Reliability Analysis: Used to assess the internal consistency of the scale and its subscales.

Correlational Analysis: Used to investigate relationships between social support and other psychological variables, including anxiety and depression.

These approaches can provide information about both the characteristics of social relationships and their associations with other relevant psychological variables.

Psychometric Evaluation

According to the source document, the psychometric evaluation of the ISSI may include several approaches.

Reliability Analysis: Internal consistency of the items and subscales can be assessed using appropriate reliability measures, such as Cronbach’s alpha (α).

Factor Analysis: Factor-analytic methods may be applied to identify dimensions of social support and examine the structure of the scale.

Cross-Validation: The instrument may be evaluated across different populations to examine its reliability and applicability among different social groups.

These procedures contribute to the systematic evaluation of the psychometric characteristics of the ISSI.

Applications

The ISSI has been used in clinical and research studies concerned with social relationships and social support.

According to the source document, the instrument can be used for:

Assessing social support among individuals with psychological or physical health problems.

Investigating the influence of social support on mental health and well-being.

The ISSI may therefore be useful in research examining relationships between social networks, perceived support, psychological functioning, and well-being.

Interpretation of Results

Interpretation of ISSI results should consider both the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of social support.

The number and frequency of social contacts provide information about the availability of the individual’s social network, while satisfaction and perceived quality provide information about the supportive value of these relationships.

These aspects should be considered together when interpreting the individual’s social experience, as the number of social contacts alone does not necessarily indicate the quality of the support received.

Results should therefore be interpreted according to the structure and scoring procedures of the version of the ISSI being administered and within the context of the population under investigation.

References

Henderson, S., Duncan-Jones, P., Byrne, D. G., & Scott, R. (1980). Measuring social relationships: The Interview Schedule for Social Interaction. Psychological Medicine, 10(4), 723–734.

Undén, A. L., & Orth-Gomér, K. (1989). Development of a social support instrument for use in population surveys. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine, 17(3), 281–289.

Henderson, S. (1992). Social support and depression. In H. O. F. Veiel & U. Baumann (Eds.), The Meaning and Measurement of Social Support. Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.

Keywords

Interview Schedule for Social Interaction, ISSI, social support, social interaction, social relationships, social network, social contacts, perceived social support, emotional support, practical support, mental health, well-being, psychometric assessment.