Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6)

What is social support?

When we talk about social support, we refer to the care, comfort, and assistance provided by family, friends, and other groups. This support can manifest in various ways.

involves receiving empathy, sympathy, acceptance, acknowledgment, and love from those we cherish. It means relying on them during troubled times, sharing our concerns, and finding reassurance in their presence.

Additionally, social support encompasses receiving valuable advice and guidance from individuals we trust, even if they are not necessarily close to us. It can also involve receiving tangible assistance, such as material resources, financial aid, or medical support during challenging periods like the COVID-19 global lockdowns and quarantine.

This kind of support is crucial for our overall well-being, including our physical and mental health, emotional resilience, and overall quality of life. The absence of social support can have a devastating impact, leading to unhealthy coping mechanisms, increased stress levels, and feelings of loneliness and isolation.

How to use the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6):

If you are a psychologist, psychiatrist, therapist, counselor, or any other healthcare professional working with patients with anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues, it is important to consider the presence and satisfaction of social support in your patients' lives.

You can use the Social Support Questionnaire created by Irwin G. Sarason and his team to learn more about them getting social support or the lack thereof. This version we’re about to discuss is the SSQ6, one of the shortened versions of the original.

The SSQ6 has six questions that need to be answered:

1. Who can you really count on to be dependable when you need help?

2. Who can you really count on to help you feel more relaxed when you are under pressure or tense?

3. Who accepts you totally, including both your worst and your best points?

4. Who can you really count on to care about you, regardless of what is happening to you?

5. Who can you really count on to help you feel better when you are feeling generally down in the dumps?

6. Who can you count on to console you when you are very upset?

These questions have two-part answers. For each question, the person answering must indicate if they have no one who can support them or if they do. If they do, they must write down the initials (first and last name initials only) and indicate their relationship with the person.

The second answer is a rating of how satisfied they are with the level of social support they’re getting from all these people combined. If they have no social support, they should still provide the rating.

The person engaging with the questionnaire will choose from the following preset answers for each question:

• Very dissatisfied = 1 point
• Fairly dissatisfied = 2 points
• A little dissatisfied = 3 points
• A little satisfied = 4 points
• Fairly satisfied = 5 points
• Very satisfied = 6 points

After receiving a fully accomplished copy, just add up the scores for each to get the total score. The higher the score, the more satisfied they are with the social support they are getting. If they’re not getting social support or if their score is low, encourage them to provide more details in their responses. This will provide you with valuable information to develop a personalized treatment plan, helping your patients address their challenges and devise effective strategies to obtain the necessary support.

When is it best to use the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6)?

This guide is specifically designed for healthcare professionals working with patients struggling with mental health conditions and the various factors contributing to their challenges. We aim to provide you with a comprehensive framework that optimizes word choice, structure, readability, and eloquence while retaining the original meaning.

The Social Support Questionnaire is best implemented during the midpoint of your therapy, counseling, or treatment program.

By "midpoint of the program," we refer to a stage where pleasantries have been exchanged, a safe and non-judgmental space has been fostered, and trust and rapport have been established. At this juncture, individuals are more inclined to engage in discussions regarding social support, its presence or absence, and their sentiments toward the support they receive. These topics can be challenging to address, particularly when individuals lack support or are dissatisfied with their existing support systems.

It’s also best to use the Social Support Questionnaire before you start creating intervention, treatment, and/or action plans for your patient. Knowing if they are receiving social support and if they’re satisfied with it will be helpful because you know what bases to cover and account for when developing a tailor-fitted plan.

What are the benefits of using the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6)?

It can help professionals identify if their patients are getting support.

The Social Support Questionnaire asks for two things for each question: the first one being a list of people that the patient believes they can count on for social support specific to the question being asked, and the second one is a rating for how satisfied the patient is based on the overall support they are getting that’s in line with the question being answered.

It can help professionals plan what they can do for their patients.

The questionnaire provides an opportunity for professionals to delve deeper into their patients' responses, enabling them to better understand their needs. This information can then be utilized to offer appropriate assistance, such as suggesting healthy coping mechanisms or providing guidance on effective communication skills. Ultimately, this empowers patients to maintain meaningful connections and cultivate healthy relationships within their support system.

It can help monitor patients in terms of their social support.

The Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6) can be used for more than a single assessment. Reissuing the questionnaire during follow-up allows for monitoring changes in a patient's perception of their social support system. It is important to recognize that satisfaction levels may have evolved since the initial assessment. For instance, a falling out could have occurred between your patient and individuals from their support network. By reutilizing this scale, healthcare professionals can identify the need for adjustments in care plans to address any changes in their patients' ratings.