The Online Social Support Scale: Measure development and validation.

Abstract

A new measure, the Online Social Support Scale, was developed based on previous theory, research, and measurement of in-person social support. It includes four subscales: Esteem/Emotional Support, Social Companionship, Informational Support, and Instrumental Support. In college and community samples, factor analytic and item response theory results suggest that subtypes of in-person social support also pertain in the online world. Evidence of reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity provide excellent psychometric support for the measure. Construct validity accrues to the measure vis-à-vis support for three hypotheses: (a) Various broad types of Internet platforms for social interactions are differentially associated with online social support and online victimization; (b) similar to in-person social support, online social support offsets the adverse effect of negative life events on self-esteem and depression-related outcome; and (c) online social support counteracts the effects of online victimization in much the same way that in-person friends in one social niche counterbalance rejection in other social niches. (PsycINFO Database Record

Emotional support from social media and face-to-face relationships: Associations with depression risk among young adults

“…These findings reflect existing research on the distinctions between FTF and SM-based support in general and their associations with mental health, although the associations found in our study appear to be smaller in magnitude (McCloskey et al, 2015;Teo et al, 2019). However, our findings differ from some prior studies that showed that like FTF emotional support, online support was associated with lower depression (Grieve et al, 2013;Nick et al, 2018).…”

“…One study suggested that SM connectedness may be a distinct yet related construct to FTF connectedness, and that SM connectedness may be associated with lower depression (Grieve et al, 2013). Additionally, a formal scale development study found that like FTF social support, online (i.e., gaming and dating sites, texting, and social media platforms) social support was protective against depression-related outcomes, although to a slightly lesser degree (Nick et al, 2018). However, another study found that while increased frequency of FTF social contact was associated with lower odds of depression, increased social interaction on SM was not (Teo et al, 2019).…”

Enemies and friends in high-tech places: the development and validation of the Online Social Experiences Measure

“…30,31 Evidence spanning decades suggests that although such groups are also widely used in illness contexts, and may have benefits for individuals such as some patients and family caregivers, 32–34 the links to psychological and physical wellbeing remain largely unclear and underexplored, 35–39 an issue perhaps in part complicated by the absence of appropriate measurement instruments linking online networks and interactions to health. 40…”

“…While online social environments are increasingly explored in the literature, such research generally utilizes ad hoc scales (which typically have weak or unknown psychometric properties), 40 or measures developed for offline contexts. While online social interactions mirror their offline counterparts in some ways, there are also many fundamental differences, 59 such that offline measures may not be suitable for or relevant to online work, underscoring the need for development of a measure specific to online contexts.…”

Concept Analysis of Social Support of Nursing Students Using a Hybrid Model

“…Components of Social Support of Nursing Students Defined in the Fieldwork Stage Daily contact with family, professors, school friends, seniors and juniors, and occasional contact with friends outside of school or hometown friends ://doi.org/10.4094/chnr.2020 26…”