Abstract
The Social Support-Friends and Family Scale, comprising the Perceived Social Support from Friends (PSS-Fr) and Perceived Social Support from Family (PSS-Fa) inventories, is one of the most widely utilized and foundational psychometric instruments designed to assess subjective appraisals of interpersonal support networks. Developed by Mary E. Procidano and Kenneth Heller in 1983, these dual scales systematically evaluate the extent to which an individual perceives their social needs for emotional sustenance, information exchange, instrumental advice, and reciprocal validation as being met by their peer group and familial network, respectively. Each measure contains 20 declarative self-report items formatted with a trichotomous response architecture (“Yes”, “No”, “Don’t know”), yielding discrete continuous dimension scores ranging from 0 to 20 per subscale. Extensive empirical literature spanning four decades confirms high internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients typically ranging between α = .88 and α = .91 for PSS-Fa and between α = .88 and α = .90 for PSS-Fr, alongside robust 1-month test-retest stability coefficients exceeding r = .80. Confirmatory factor analyses consistently substantiate the structural independence of perceived friend support and perceived family support, highlighting that relational provisions from kin and peers represent distinct psychological phenomena with divergent prognostic values for psychopathology, stress resilience, and physical health outcomes. This comprehensive review examines the theoretical etiology, psychometric architecture, construct validity, clinical utility, scoring mechanics, and full item formulations of the PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa.
Keywords
Perceived Social Support, PSS-Fr, PSS-Fa, Family Support, Peer Relations, Procidano and Heller, Stress-Buffering Hypothesis, Psychometrics, Scale Validation, Psychological Distress, Interpersonal Relationships, Social Network Assessment
Authors
The Perceived Social Support from Friends (PSS-Fr) and Perceived Social Support from Family (PSS-Fa) scales were authored and validated by:
- Mary E. Procidano, Ph.D. — Associate Professor Emerita of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, New York, United States. Dr. Procidano’s research program focused extensively on community psychology, clinical assessment, perceived social support mechanisms, stress appraisal, and cross-cultural psychopathology.
- Kenneth Heller, Ph.D. — Professor Emeritus of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States. Dr. Heller is a seminal figure in community psychology, recognized for his foundational contributions to mutual-help groups, social support interventions, prevention science, and clinical psychology training.
Purpose
The primary purpose of the PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa is to provide a psychometrically sound, conceptually delineated, and operationally distinct measurement of an individual’s subjective perception of the social support available from two fundamental social spheres: the family system and the peer group. Prior to the development of the PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa in 1983, empirical research on social relationships and mental health frequently confounded three conceptually heterogeneous variables: structural social network characteristics (e.g., marital status, frequency of social contacts, density of network nodes), actual received supportive behaviors (e.g., tangible assistance, financial loans, direct transport), and subjective perceived social support (e.g., the cognitive appraisal that one is loved, valued, understood, and reliably held within an emotionally secure network). Procidano and Heller conceptualized that the psychological benefits of interpersonal relationships are mediated primarily through perceptions of support adequacy rather than sheer objective network volume or the raw tally of supportive transactions.
A second critical purpose of the instruments was to explicitly disentangle family support from friend support. Earlier instruments often aggregated interpersonal ties into global, undifferentiated indices of “social support.” Such conflation obscured vital developmental, systemic, and clinical divergences. For instance, across late adolescence, emerging adulthood, and major life transitions, the psychological functional utility of friend support versus family support shifts substantially. By administering PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa as parallel yet independent measures, clinicians and investigators can identify asymmetric support profiles (e.g., an individual experiencing profound familial estrangement alongside exceptionally rich peer cohesion, or conversely, someone embedded in an enmeshed family structure while suffering severe peer alienation).
The practical applications of the scales span clinical diagnostics, preventive community interventions, health psychology, and developmental psychopathology. In clinical settings, the scales assess protective social buffers against major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety, suicidality, and substance abuse relapse. In medical contexts, PSS-Fa and PSS-Fr scores serve as predictors of treatment adherence, immune function, post-surgical recovery, and coping efficacy in chronic illnesses such as diabetes, oncology, and cardiovascular diseases. In organizational and higher education research, the scales are frequently used to monitor adjustment, burnout, and retention among university undergraduates and vocational trainees navigating high-stress environmental demands.
Psychological Construct
The psychological construct evaluated by the PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa is Perceived Social Support (PSS), defined by Procidano and Heller (1983) as the extent to which an individual believes that their personal needs for support, information, and feedback are fulfilled by their social environment. Critically, perceived support is conceptualized as a cognitive appraisal rather than an objective environmental audit. It captures the subjective resonance of interpersonal transactions—specifically reflecting an internalized sense of social belonging, emotional safety, mutual confiding, and reciprocal usefulness.
Perceived Family Support (PSS-Fa)
The PSS-Fa operationalizes perceived support within the kin network. Familial relationships are predominantly characterized by involuntary membership, long-term historical continuity, non-negotiable developmental roots, and normative expectations of unconditional obligation and emotional containment. The construct evaluated by PSS-Fa incorporates several distinct emotional and operational facets:
- Emotional and Moral Sustenance: The appraisal that family members provide vital moral foundations and emotional reassurance during crises (e.g., “My family gives me the moral support I need”).
- Cognitive and Practical Problem-Solving: The belief that family members possess the willingness, wisdom, and competence to offer sound guidance, ideas, and actionable solutions to daily struggles (e.g., “Members of my family are good at helping me solve problems”).
- Vulnerability and Confiding Safety: The absence of shame, fear, or perceived burden when disclosing vulnerabilities or expressing dysphoric states (e.g., “There is a member of my family I could go to if I were just feeling down, without feeling funny about it later”).
- Reciprocal Utility: The subjective sense that the individual is not merely a passive recipient of kin care, but an active, valued contributor to the family’s emotional equilibrium and problem-solving processes (e.g., “Members of my family come to me for emotional support”).
- Systemic Closeness versus Alienation: Evaluated through inversely scored indicators reflecting feelings of relational distance or profound dissatisfaction with familial dynamics (e.g., “Most other people are closer to their family than I am” and “I wish my family was much different”).
Perceived Friend Support (PSS-Fr)
The PSS-Fr evaluates perceived support within voluntary, horizontal peer associations. Unlike family ties, peer networks are elective, egalitarian, based on shared generational culture, mutual recreational interests, and reciprocal attraction. The psychological construct of peer support captures:
- Egalitarian Intimacy and Consensual Validation: The feeling that one’s worldview, opinions, and identity are embraced and validated by contemporaries (e.g., “My friends enjoy hearing about what I think”).
- Safe Emotional Disclosure: Confidence that one can disclose interpersonal fears, vulnerabilities, or personal failures without risking status loss, ridicule, or relationship termination (e.g., “My friends and I are very open about what we think about things”).
- Companionship and Social Integration: The subjective sensation of being intrinsically woven into a peer group rather than hovering anxiously on its perimeter (e.g., inverse evaluation of “I feel that I’m on the fringe of my circle of friends”).
- Mutual Problem-Solving and Informational Guidance: The bidirectional exchange of functional ideas, life hacks, and perspective shifts (e.g., “I’ve recently gotten a good idea about how to do something from a friend”).
- Reciprocal Reliance: Affirmation that the individual possesses interpersonal value within the friendship network as an advisor and emotional anchor (e.g., “Certain friends come to me when they have problems or need advice”).
Theoretical Framework
The development of the PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa is anchored in early ecological and cognitive models of mental health, most notably the Stress-Buffering Hypothesis formulated by Sheldon Cohen and Thomas A. Wills, as well as the transactional model of stress and coping articulated by Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman.
According to the cognitive appraisal model, the psychological impact of an environmental stressor is largely determined by primary appraisal (evaluating the severity of the threat) and secondary appraisal (evaluating one’s resources to cope with the threat). Perceived social support functions primarily at the level of secondary appraisal: when an individual encounters an acute stressor (e.g., academic failure, marital breakdown, somatic illness), the internalized knowledge that supportive family members and friends are readily accessible acts as a psychological buffer. This cognitive buffer attenuates the subjective appraisal of threat, reduces physiological neuroendocrine reactivity (such as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hyperactivation), and prevents maladaptive coping strategies such as behavioral disengagement or substance misuse.
Procidano and Heller (1983) also drew heavily from community psychology paradigms and social exchange theory. In contrast to purely passive dependency models of social support, their theoretical framework emphasizes reciprocity. Relational networks are most protective when an individual experiences bidirectional support—both receiving care and perceiving oneself as an efficacious provider of care to others. The inclusion of items assessing whether peers and kin turn to the respondent for advice and emotional solace reflects this fundamental socio-cognitive premise: perceived competence in fulfilling interpersonal roles directly bolsters self-efficacy and psychological resilience.
Furthermore, developmental systems theory underlies the intentional separation of PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa. During late childhood and early adolescence, family support serves as the foundational attachment base (paralleling John Bowlby’s attachment theory). However, as individuals navigate adolescence and adulthood, individuation processes necessitate the construction of external peer alliances. Empirical research utilizing the PSS scales has illuminated how family support and friend support serve differing regulatory functions: family support often provides longitudinal baseline stability and buffering against severe internalizing psychopathology, whereas friend support is more tightly linked to immediate self-esteem, social competence, and protection against existential loneliness.
Validity
The construct, convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity of the PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa have been extensively evaluated across clinical, college, adolescent, and diverse demographic cohorts.
Construct and Convergent Validity
In their seminal validation studies involving university undergraduates, Procidano and Heller (1983) demonstrated that PSS-Fa and PSS-Fr exhibited robust convergent validity with established measures of psychological distress, personal competence, and social functioning. Specifically:
- Psychological Distress and Symptomatology: Both PSS-Fa and PSS-Fr demonstrated significant negative correlations with measures of psychological distress, somatic symptomatology, trait anxiety, and depressive symptoms as indexed by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL). Typically, higher perceived support from family was more strongly correlated with lower generalized psychiatric symptomatology (r = -.35 to -.45) than friend support, highlighting the distinct protective core of family stability.
- Loneliness and Social Desirability: Both subscales correlate inversely with the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, with PSS-Fr exhibiting particularly powerful negative associations (r = -.55 to -.68), demonstrating that perceived peer intimacy directly counteracts social alienation. Crucially, correlations with Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scales have consistently been negligible (typically r < .15), indicating that the scales are not substantially contaminated by impression management or social approval biases.
- Interpersonal Competence and Self-Esteem: PSS-Fr scores correlate positively with assertiveness, social confidence, empathy, and global self-esteem measured via the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (r = .35 to .50).
Discriminant and Criterion Validity
The discriminant validity between PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa is supported by the modest correlation between the two scales themselves. Across various validation studies, the intercorrelation between PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa typically ranges from r = .20 to r = .35, confirming that while both measure perceived social support, they tap distinct, non-redundant interpersonal domains. An individual can perceive high family support and low friend support, or vice versa.
Furthermore, Procidano and Heller demonstrated that both scales correlate only weakly to moderately (r = .15 to .30) with structural network measures (such as the number of friends or the frequency of phone calls with relatives). This establishes critical discriminant validity: perceived support measures qualitative subjective appraisals rather than mere network availability.
Criterion-related validity has been demonstrated in experimental and longitudinal field designs. In laboratory stress paradigms, individuals with elevated PSS-Fa and PSS-Fr scores exhibit lower autonomic nervous system arousal (e.g., attenuated heart rate reactivity and faster skin conductance recovery) following interpersonal stressors. Clinically, low baseline scores on the PSS-Fa have repeatedly predicted prospective depressive relapses, poor compliance in medical interventions, and elevated rates of self-harm in vulnerable populations.
Reliability
The PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa possess exemplary psychometric reliability, evaluated across diverse research designs including internal consistency assessments, test-retest longitudinal analyses, and meta-analytic syntheses.
Internal Consistency
In the original scale validation studies by Procidano and Heller (1983), the internal consistency of both instruments was determined using Cronbach’s alpha across multiple independent student cohorts:
- PSS-Fa (Family): Cronbach’s α values ranged from .88 to .91.
- PSS-Fr (Friends): Cronbach’s α values ranged from .88 to .90.
Subsequent meta-analyses by Procidano (1992) spanning decades of cross-sectional and experimental research confirmed that the internal consistency reliability coefficients remain robust across adolescent, geriatric, psychiatric, and cross-cultural samples, with median α coefficients consistently hovering around .89 for both measures. Item-total correlations across the 20 items in both subscales are consistently positive, with most individual items exhibiting corrected item-total correlations between .42 and .68.
Test-Retest Stability
Temporal stability has been verified across varying time intervals, demonstrating that perceived social support operates largely as a stable cognitive disposition while maintaining appropriate sensitivity to major ecological disruptions:
- 1-Month Interval: Procidano and Heller (1983) reported a 1-month test-retest reliability coefficient of r = .83 for the PSS-Fr, confirming high temporal stability over short intervals.
- Longer Intervals (3 to 6 Months): Subsequent longitudinal studies during transitional developmental phases (e.g., college matriculation, clinical rehabilitation) have yielded test-retest coefficients between r = .68 and .75. These figures demonstrate appropriate baseline stability alongside expected responsiveness to meaningful changes in interpersonal environments.
Factor Analysis
The underlying latent dimensional structure of the PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa has been investigated through both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) across numerous empirical studies.
Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA)
In initial principal components and principal axis factor analyses conducted by Procidano and Heller (1983) and subsequent researchers, simultaneous factor extraction of the 40 items consistently yielded two massive, clear-cut primary factors corresponding exactly to the theoretical division of social domains:
- Factor 1 (Family Support): Subsumes all 20 PSS-Fa items, with primary factor loadings typically ranging between .45 and .78, and negligible cross-loadings onto the friend factor (generally < .15).
- Factor 2 (Friend Support): Subsumes all 20 PSS-Fr items, with primary factor loadings typically between .40 and .75, and negligible cross-loadings onto the family factor.
When factor analyses are conducted on each 20-item scale individually, a strong dominant general factor emerges for each scale, accounting for roughly 35% to 45% of the total variance. In some exploratory investigations using oblique rotations, multidimensional secondary sub-factors have been detected within each scale:
- Emotional Support and Intimacy (e.g., confiding without shame, mutual deep sharing).
- Instrumental Problem-Solving and Guidance (e.g., getting good ideas, solving practical challenges).
- Reciprocal Value / Mattering (e.g., others seeking the respondent out for advice and companionship).
- Perceived Relational Isolation / Dysphoria (the reverse-scored items capturing feelings of distance or dissatisfaction).
Despite the presence of these minor facets, the overwhelming proportion of common variance is captured by the unidimensional general factor of family support and friend support, justifying the standard practice of computing a single composite score for PSS-Fa and PSS-Fr.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) Fit Indices
Contemporary structural equation modeling studies evaluating two-factor oblique models (specifying PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa as distinct, correlated latent constructs) consistently demonstrate superior model fit over unidimensional models that aggregate all items into a single generic social support construct. Representative CFA fit statistics reported in psychometric investigations (e.g., Marshall, 1998) include:
- Comparative Fit Index (CFI): ≥ .92 to .95
- Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI): ≥ .91 to .94
- Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): .045 to .062 (with 90% confidence intervals within acceptable thresholds)
- Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): ≤ .055
These structural findings confirm that perceived peer support and perceived family support are psychologically and statistically distinct entities that should not be combined into a single unitary score.
Instrument / Measurement Tool
The PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa constitute a self-administered psychometric battery. Below are the structural specifications and operational parameters of the instruments:
- Test Type: Standardized psychological self-report questionnaire / psychometric rating scale.
- Target Population: Adolescents (ages 12+) and adults across all developmental stages. Suitable for clinical, academic, and non-clinical community settings.
- Total Item Count: 40 items total (divided into two distinct, parallel 20-item subscales):
- Relations with Family (PSS-Fa): 20 items
- Friendship (PSS-Fr): 20 items
- Administration Time: Approximately 8 to 12 minutes for the complete 40-item battery.
- Response Scale Architecture: A 3-point categorical forced-choice format:
- “Yes”
- “No”
- “Don’t know”
- Scoring Protocol & Rubric:
- Each subscale is scored independently, generating two discrete scores ranging from 0 to 20.
- A score of 1 point is awarded for each response that indicates the presence of perceived social support.
- A score of 0 points is assigned to responses that do not reflect support, as well as to “Don’t know” responses. (The “Don’t know” option is treated psychometrically as an absence of definitive perceived support).
- Scoring Keys & Directionality:
- Relations with Family (PSS-Fa):
- Directly Scored Items (“Yes” = 1 point, “No” / “Don’t know” = 0): Items 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18.
- Reverse Scored Items (“No” = 1 point, “Yes” / “Don’t know” = 0): Items 3, 4, 16, 19, 20.
- Friendship (PSS-Fr):
- Directly Scored Items (“Yes” = 1 point, “No” / “Don’t know” = 0): Items 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19.
- Reverse Scored Items (“No” = 1 point, “Yes” / “Don’t know” = 0): Items 2, 6, 7, 15, 18, 20.
- Score Interpretation:
- 0 to 6: Low perceived social support (indicates significant perceived social isolation, lack of emotional containment, or relational distress within that domain).
- 7 to 13: Moderate perceived social support (reflects average, normative relational resources with occasional deficits in confiding or reciprocal sharing).
- 14 to 20: High perceived social support (denotes exceptional relational cohesion, strong mutual confiding, and deep perceived psychological safety).
Permissions & Fee and Test Year
The Perceived Social Support from Friends (PSS-Fr) and Perceived Social Support from Family (PSS-Fa) scales were originally published in 1983 in the American Journal of Community Psychology by Mary E. Procidano and Kenneth Heller.
In alignment with standard academic traditions in community and clinical psychology, the authors placed the PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa instruments into the public domain for non-commercial scientific, educational, and clinical research use. No commercial licensing fees or proprietary purchase authorizations are required to administer the scale for academic research, dissertations, or non-profit clinical assessments. Researchers and practitioners are expected to maintain academic integrity by citing the original 1983 validation article in all publications and presentations derived from its application. For commercial applications or reproduction within profit-generating assessment batteries, formal permission should be sought through the publisher (Springer / Society for Community Research and Action).
References
- Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310–357. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310
- Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer Publishing Company.
- Marshall, S. K. (1998). Mattering attitudes: Validating the construct (Doctoral dissertation, University of Guelph). Dissertation Abstracts International, 59(06), 3121B. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape15/PQDD_0032/NQ27460.pdf
- Procidano, M. E. (1992). The nature of perceived social support: Findings of meta-analytic studies. In C. D. Spielberger & J. N. Butcher (Eds.), Advances in Personality Assessment (Vol. 9, pp. 1–26). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- 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
- Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., & Cutrona, C. E. (1980). The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39(3), 472–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.39.3.472
- Sarason, I. G., Levine, H. M., Basham, R. B., & Sarason, B. R. (1983). Assessing social support: The Social Support Questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 127–139. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.127
13. Items of the Scale (Questionnaire)