Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS-FR/FA)

1. Abstract

The Perceived Social Support Scale – Family and Friends (PSSS-FA/FR), developed by Mary E. Procidano and Kenneth Heller in 1983, is one of the foundational and most widely utilized psychometric instruments designed to assess an individual’s cognitive appraisal of the availability and adequacy of interpersonal support. Comprising two distinct parallel instruments—the Perceived Social Support from Family (PSS-FA) scale and the Perceived Social Support from Friends (PSS-FR) scale—the measure consists of 20 items per instrument (40 items total when administered jointly). Each scale assesses subjective experiences across diverse support provisions, including emotional validation, instrumental guidance, reciprocal problem-solving, open self-disclosure, and feelings of intimacy versus alienation. Respondents evaluate each statement using a trichotomous response format: Yes (scored 1 if indicating support), No (scored 0), and Don’t Know (scored 0). Both scales demonstrate robust psychometric rigor across diverse clinical and non-clinical cohorts. In seminal and contemporary psychometric validations, internal consistency reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s alpha) have consistently ranged between α = .88 and α = .91 for the PSS-FA and between α = .88 and α = .90 for the PSS-FR, alongside solid test-retest reliability across multi-week intervals (r ≥ .80). Construct validity is evidenced through negative associations with depressive symptomatology, trait anxiety, and somatic distress, combined with positive associations with psychological resilience, self-esteem, adaptive coping mechanisms, and general well-being. Structural evaluations via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses affirm that social support from family and friends operate as related yet structurally distinct empirical dimensions, disconfirming unidimensional conceptualizations of interpersonal networks.

2. Keywords

Perceived Social Support, PSSS-FR/FA, Procidano and Heller, Family Support, Friend Support, Psychometrics, Social Network Assessment, Mental Health, Interpersonal Relationships, Coping Resources

3. Authors

The Perceived Social Support Scale was formulated, validated, and published by Mary E. Procidano and Kenneth Heller.

• Mary E. Procidano, Ph.D.: Associate Professor of Psychology at Fordham University, Department of Psychology, Bronx, New York, United States. Dr. Procidano’s research focuses on community psychology, psychometrics, the intersection of social systems and personal adjustment, and the developmental pathways of interpersonal relationship networks.
• Kenneth Heller, Ph.D.: Professor Emeritus of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Bloomington, Indiana, United States. Dr. Heller is an authority in clinical and community psychology, renowned for his contributions to prevention science, mutual-help organizations, and the buffering hypotheses of social support.

4. Purpose

The primary purpose of the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS-FR/FA) is to operationalize and measure the subjective appraisal of social support, separating it both conceptually and empirically from structural measures of social networks (such as network size, frequency of contact, or social density) and from enacted support (the concrete behavioral exchanges of aid received from others). In developing the scales, Procidano and Heller (1983) sought to resolve critical theoretical ambiguities that characterized early research in community mental health, epidemiology, and health psychology during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Prior to the introduction of the PSSS, researchers frequently conflated the sheer existence of social ties with the psychological perception that one’s interpersonal environment is caring, responsive, and available during times of crisis.

Procidano and Heller argued that while network density and enacted behaviors are important, it is the subjective, cognitive representation of support—the feeling of being understood, valued, and capable of leaning on specific cohorts of individuals—that plays the primary causal role in modulating psychological distress and fostering psychological well-being. Furthermore, the authors recognized that different relational domains provide distinct functional provisions. Social support from family members typically embodies long-standing, unconditional, kinship-based ties imbued with developmental history, whereas support from friends represents voluntarily maintained, egalitarian bonds characterized by mutual sharing, age-cohort socialization, and reciprocal problem-solving.

In clinical contexts, the PSSS-FA and PSS-FR are used to assess interpersonal deficits, attachment vulnerabilities, and environmental resources among patients presenting with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, substance abuse, borderline personality disorder, and medical conditions such as chronic pain and oncological illnesses. Clinicians utilize discrepancies between PSS-FA and PSS-FR scores to identify specific systemic dysfunctions; for instance, an adolescent or young adult presenting with elevated friend support alongside marked family alienation may benefit from family-systems therapy or targeted interventions focusing on family communication. In empirical research, the scales are utilized to evaluate the stress-buffering model, track longitudinal adjustments in university populations, examine cross-cultural patterns of relational coping, and assess the outcomes of community-based mutual-aid interventions.

5. Psychological Construct

The psychological construct evaluated by the PSSS is Perceived Social Support (PSS), defined as the extent to which an individual believes that their social needs for affection, information, companionship, and instrumental problem-solving are met by their network members. Crucially, the PSSS differentiates this construct into two independent, domain-specific sources: Perceived Social Support from Family (PSS-FA) and Perceived Social Support from Friends (PSS-FR).

Perceived Social Support from Family (PSS-FA)

The PSS-FA measures the subjective adequacy of kinship systems. This construct encompasses several core psychological facets:

• Emotional and Moral Validation: The cognitive expectation that family members provide ethical grounding, reassurance, and emotional comfort without judgment (e.g., Item 1: “My family gives me the moral support I need”).
• Cognitive and Instrumental Problem Solving: The appraisal of the family unit as an effective resource for generative ideas, strategic guidance, and tangible solutions (e.g., Item 2: “I get good ideas about how to do things or make things from my family”; Item 13: “Members of my family are good at helping me solve problems”).
• Reciprocal Interpersonal Utility: The perception that social support is a bilateral, mutuality-based transaction rather than a dependent or unilateral burden. Items measure whether family members seek out the respondent for advice and emotional solace (e.g., Item 7: “Certain members of my family come to me when they have problems or need advice”; Item 12: “Members of my family come to me for emotional support”).
• Intimacy, Openness, and Psychological Safety: The subjective feeling that one can confide vulnerability without inducing distress, rejection, or secondary discomfort (e.g., Item 9: “There is a member of my family I could go to if I were just feeling down, without feeling funny about it later”; Item 10: “My family and I are very open about what we think about things”).
• Relative Social Isolation and Familial Dissatisfaction (Reverse-Scored): The negative comparative appraisal that one’s family ties are fundamentally deficient relative to societal norms, characterized by estrangement, emotional distance, or deep wishes for alternative family systems (e.g., Item 3: “Most other people are closer to their family than I am”; Item 20: “I wish my family were much different”).

Perceived Social Support from Friends (PSS-FR)

Parallel to the family dimension, the PSS-FR captures the idiosyncratic dynamics of peer-based, voluntary affiliations:

• Peer Validation and Empathy: Mutual emotional investment from non-kin companions who validate one’s personal worldview, independent identity, and social goals (e.g., Item 1: “My friends gives me the moral support I need”; Item 3: “My friends enjoy hearing about what I think”).
• Egalitarian Companionship and Reciprocity: Horizontal relationships where companionship is actively pursued and advice is bi-directionally exchanged (e.g., Item 4: “Certain friends come to me when they have problems or need advice”; Item 16: “My friends seek me out for companionship”).
• Safe Vulnerability and Intimate Disclosure: The ability to experience unreserved affective communication without fear of ostracism or social penalty (e.g., Item 8: “There is a friend I could go to if I were just feeling down, without feeling funny about it later”; Item 13: “I have a deep sharing relationship with a number of friends”).
• Marginality and Social Alienation (Reverse-Scored): The painful cognitive appraisal of being an outsider within one’s own peer group, feeling disconnected, or withholding negative emotion out of insecurity (e.g., Item 6: “If I felt that one or more of my friends were upset with me, I’d just keep it to myself”; Item 7: “I feel that I’m on the fringe in my circle of friends”).

6. Theoretical Framework

The development of the PSSS-FR/FA is grounded in cognitive appraisal models of stress and coping, pioneered by Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman (1984), alongside the ecological-systems and community mental health paradigms advanced by Kenneth Heller (1979) and John Cassel (1976).

Under Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model, an environmental stressor triggers primary appraisal (evaluating whether an event represents harm, threat, or challenge) and secondary appraisal (evaluating one’s available coping resources to mitigate the threat). Perceived social support acts as a prominent cognitive buffer during secondary appraisal. An individual facing severe life strain who believes that dependable family members and loyal friends are accessible will appraise the stressor as less threatening, experiencing attenuated neuroendocrine activation and mitigated emotional distress. Conversely, individuals who evaluate their social networks as unsupportive, emotionally cold, or dysfunctional experience amplified appraisals of threat, leading to heightened vulnerability to mood disturbances and somatic disorders.

Crucially, Procidano and Heller situated the PSSS within the theoretical distinction between the direct-effects (main-effect) hypothesis and the stress-buffering hypothesis. The direct-effects model posits that social integration is globally beneficial regardless of the individual’s current level of environmental stress, providing continuous positive affect, predictability, and social self-efficacy. The buffering hypothesis posits that social support acts primarily under conditions of acute or chronic stress by neutralizing pathological cascades. By designing separate scales for family and friends, Procidano and Heller recognized that family ties often provide continuous, unconditional structural security (main-effects), whereas friend networks often provide specialized stress-buffering during developmental transitions (such as the transition to university or career entry).

Furthermore, the PSSS integrates principles from attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969; Ainsworth, 1978). An individual’s perception of family support reflects internal working models of early attachment security, parental responsiveness, and familial safety. Friend support reflects the developmental reorganization of attachment hierarchies during late adolescence and early adulthood, during which peers become secondary attachment figures capable of providing safe-haven and secure-base functions.

7. Validity

The psychometric validity of the PSSS-FA and PSS-FR has been established across hundreds of empirical investigations encompassing clinical, academic, cross-cultural, and community populations.

Construct and Convergent Validity

In the seminal validation studies conducted by Procidano and Heller (1983), convergent validity was evaluated by comparing the PSS-FA and PSS-FR against measures of psychological distress, social competence, and network attributes. Key findings demonstrated:

• Psychological Symptoms: Scores on both PSS-FA and PSS-FR displayed statistically significant inverse correlations with psychological distress, as measured by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL) and the Langner 22-item Screening Score (correlations ranging from r = -.25 to r = -.40, p < .001). Higher perceived support reliably correlated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, interpersonal sensitivity, and somatic complaints.
• Social Assets and Self-Esteem: Significant positive correlations were established between perceived support and global self-esteem, self-efficacy, and internal locus of control. Individuals with elevated PSS-FA and PSS-FR reported higher perceived interpersonal competence in initiating and sustaining relationships.
• Network Characteristics: In empirical comparisons with objective social network indicators, perceived support demonstrated low-to-moderate correlations with network size (r ≈ .15 to .30), confirming that perceived social support represents a distinct qualitative cognitive construct rather than a simple proxy for the sheer number of available social contacts.

Predictive and Discriminant Validity

The PSSS demonstrates discriminant validity between familial and non-familial sources of support. In Procidano and Heller’s original cohort of university undergraduates, PSS-FA and PSS-FR scores were only moderately correlated with one another (r = .24 to .35), confirming that perceived support from family and friends represent empirically separable constructs rather than an undifferentiated, global perception of support. Individuals can perceive high friend support while reporting low family support, or vice versa.

Differential predictive validity has been repeatedly demonstrated across clinical and developmental settings. In studies of adolescent adjustment, PSS-FA emerged as a stronger negative predictor of internalizing symptoms (depression and generalized anxiety) and delinquency, whereas PSS-FR was more strongly predictive of positive identity formation, social exploration, and resilience against school-related peer alienation. In studies of bereavement, medical illness, and university transition, PSS-FA provided durable protection against despair, whereas PSS-FR moderated situational adjustment and academic persistence.

8. Reliability

The PSSS-FA and PSS-FR demonstrate high reliability across diverse demographic samples, including college students, working adults, psychiatric outpatients, and elderly populations.

Internal Consistency

In the original scale derivation and validation studies by Procidano and Heller (1983), the internal consistency of both scales was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients:

• Perceived Social Support from Family (PSS-FA): The 20-item family scale yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of α = .90 in the primary validation sample and α = .88 in subsequent cross-validation cohorts. Item-total correlations across the 20 items remained consistently high, with virtually all values exceeding r = .40.
• Perceived Social Support from Friends (PSS-FR): The 20-item friend scale yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of α = .88 in the initial validation cohort and α = .88 in replication studies. Item-total correlations demonstrated strong homogeneity across items assessing peer empathy, companionship, and shared intimacy.

Subsequent psychometric investigations across diverse international translations (e.g., Spanish, Chinese, Turkish, Italian) have confirmed the robustness of these estimates, routinely reporting Cronbach’s alphas between α = .85 and α = .92 for both subscales.

Test-Retest Reliability

Temporal stability was established by Procidano and Heller across a 1-month test-retest administration interval among undergraduate students. The test-retest reliability coefficient was r = .83 for the PSS-FA and r = .83 for the PSS-FR. These coefficients indicate strong trait-like temporal stability across baseline conditions, while remaining sufficiently sensitive to detect alterations resulting from major relational disruptions, family crises, or psychotherapeutic interventions.

9. Factor Analysis

The structural dimensionality of the PSSS-FA and PSS-FR has been evaluated using both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Exploratory Factor Analyses

In their initial work, Procidano and Heller subjected each 20-item instrument to principal components analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation. For both the PSS-FA and PSS-FR, the scree tests and eigenvalue distributions revealed a dominant primary factor accounting for the majority of the common variance (over 35% to 42% of total variance), confirming that both scales possess a strong general dimension reflecting overall perceived adequacy of support within each respective domain. However, secondary sub-factors consistently emerged within each instrument:

• Factor 1: Emotional and Intimate Support: High factor loadings (> .60) for items capturing moral support, deep sharing, confiding, and emotional security (e.g., PSS-FA Items 1, 8, 9, 10, 14; PSS-FR Items 1, 5, 8, 9, 13).
• Factor 2: Instrumental and Problem-Solving Support: Robust loadings (> .55) for items related to receiving and offering actionable guidance, practical solutions, and intellectual collaboration (e.g., PSS-FA Items 2, 13, 15, 18; PSS-FR Items 12, 14, 17, 19).
• Factor 3: Alienation / Emotional Distance (Reverse-Scored): Moderate-to-high loadings for negative comparative appraisals, discomfort during confiding, and marginalization (e.g., PSS-FA Items 3, 4, 16, 19, 20; PSS-FR Items 2, 6, 7, 15, 18, 20).

Confirmatory Factor Analyses

Contemporary structural equation modeling studies have tested competing dimensional models: unidimensional global models (combining family and friend items into a single overarching social support factor), two-factor oblique models (family support and friend support as distinct correlated factors), and hierarchical models. Across empirical studies, CFA fit indices overwhelmingly support the two-factor oblique model over the single-factor specification:

• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): Typically exceeds > .92 for the two-factor specification, compared to < .75 for single-factor models.
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): Consistently falls between .045 and .062, indicating good approximate fit.
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): Values consistently remain ≤ .055.

These findings substantiate Procidano and Heller’s core theoretical postulate: family and friend support represent distinct interpersonal systems that cannot be collapsed into an undifferentiated aggregate without substantial loss of psychometric and structural validity.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

• Instrument Name: Perceived Social Support Scale – Family and Friends (PSSS-FA/FR)
• Authors: Mary E. Procidano and Kenneth Heller (1983)
• Target Population: Adolescents, college students, and adults (ages 14 and older)
• Test Type: Self-report psychological questionnaire
• Administration Format: Paper-and-pencil questionnaire or computerized self-administered survey
• Administration Time: Approximately 8 to 12 minutes to complete both 20-item scales
• Number of Items: 40 items total (20 items for PSS-FA, 20 items for PSS-FR)
• Response Format: Trichotomous categorical response: Yes (1), No (0), Don’t Know (0)
• Scoring and Quantification Procedures:
  • Each scale is scored independently to yield two discrete total scores: PSS-FA (range 0 to 20) and PSS-FR (range 0 to 20).
  • Positively Phrased Items: Endorsement of Yes is assigned 1 point. Responses of No and Don’t Know are assigned 0 points.
  • Reverse-Scored Items: Endorsement of No is assigned 1 point. Responses of Yes and Don’t Know are assigned 0 points. In the PSS-FA, reverse-scored items include Items 3, 4, 16, 19, and 20. In the PSS-FR, reverse-scored items include Items 2, 6, 7, 15, 18, and 20.
  • Don’t Know responses reflect an absence of clear perceived support and are uniformly scored 0 across both positive and reverse-keyed items.
  • Higher total scores reflect greater perceived social support within that relational domain.

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Year of Publication: 1983
• Original Publication Source: American Journal of Community Psychology, Volume 11, Issue 1, Pages 1–24.
• Copyright and Intellectual Property: The copyright for the original journal article is held by the Society for Community Research and Action (Division 27 of the American Psychological Association), published by Springer / Wiley.
• Usage Permissions and Royalties: The PSSS-FA and PSS-FR instruments were published directly within the public academic literature for broad scholarly and clinical utilization. Procidano and Heller made the instrument available for non-commercial educational, scientific, and clinical research purposes without royalty fees or licensing charges.
• Commercial and Digital Applications: Researchers, healthcare organizations, and software platforms utilizing the instrument for commercial profit, funded proprietary software, or fee-for-service clinical applications should consult standard academic copyright licensing channels or seek permission via the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC).

12. References

• Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. Basic Books.
• Cassel, J. (1976). The contribution of the social environment to host resistance. American Journal of Epidemiology, 104(2), 107–123. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112281
• Heller, K. (1979). The effects of social support: Prevention and treatment implications. In A. P. Goldstein & F. H. Kanfer (Eds.), Maximizing treatment gains: Transfer enhancement in psychotherapy (pp. 353–382). Academic Press.
• Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer Publishing Company.
• Nadel, S. (2014). Developing a social support measurement instrument: A methodological approach to measuring undergraduate perceptions of social support (Master’s thesis). Ohio State University. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.
• Procidano, M. E., & Heller, K. (1983). Measures of perceived social support from friends and from family: Three validation studies. American Journal of Community Psychology, 11(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00898416

13. Items of the Scale (Questionnaire)