The Mannheim Interview on Social Support : reliability and validity data from three samples

Social support questionnaires usually provide scant information about the members of supporting networks, while network-analytical approaches often fail to sufficiently detail the functional aspects of social support available to an individual. A structured interview, the "Mannheim Interview on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 1990-09, Vol.25 (5), p.250-259
Main Author: VEIEL, H. O. F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Brain Neoplasms - psychology
Child
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Female
Humans
Interview, Psychological
Male
Medical sciences
Nosology. Terminology. Diagnostic criteria
Parents - psychology
Personality Assessment
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social Support
Techniques and methods
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Summary:Social support questionnaires usually provide scant information about the members of supporting networks, while network-analytical approaches often fail to sufficiently detail the functional aspects of social support available to an individual. A structured interview, the "Mannheim Interview on Social Support" (MISS) is presented which combines the advantages of both approaches by mapping an individual's social resources in a "support matrix" of [network members] * [relationship characteristics + support functions]. Stability and validity data collected in three different samples (discharged depressed in-patients, university students, and parents of children afflicted with cancer) are reported. Test-retest correlations are compared with alternative measures of stability, and the relationship of various MISS scores to scores based on conceptually related instruments is explored. The results indicate good test-retest stability of the main functional and structural MISS scores rtt = 0.66 to 0.88 for a four-week interval, and rtt = 0.42 to 0.79 for a six-month-interval). It is shown that the MISS captures several dimensions of a person's social support environment not covered by questionnaires targeting subjective perceptions of support.
ISSN:0933-7954
1433-9285
DOI:10.1007/BF00788646