Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Development and Initial Validation of a Spiritual Support Subscale for the MOS Social Support Survey

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

While spirituality and religious practices are important in coping with illness or other crises, there are few ways of assessing support that people receive from members of their spiritual communities. The goal of this study was to validate a new spiritual support subscale for the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Scale (MOS-SSS). Questions for the subscale were formed based on responses of 135 breast cancer survivors who were interviewed about their cancer experience. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in four specific factors for the MOS-SSS: emotional/informational, tangible, affectionate, and spiritual support. The new spiritual support subscale has adequate reliability and validity and may be useful in assessing an area of support that is not always addressed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashing-Giwa, K. T., & Lim, J.-W. (2008). Predicting health-related quality of life: Testing the contextual model using structural equation modeling. Applied Research on Quality of Life, 3(3), 215–230. doi:10.1007/s11482-009-9057-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashing-Giwa, K. T., Tejero, J. S., Kim, J., Padilla, G. V., & Hellemann, G. (2007). Examining predictive models of HRQOL in a population-based, multiethnic sample of women with breast carcinoma. Quality of Life Research, 16, 413–428. doi:10.1007/s11136-006-9138-4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beasley, J. M., Newcomb, P. A., Trentham-Dietz, A., Hampton, J. M., Ceballos, R. M., Titus-Ernstoff, L., et al. (2010). Social networks and survival after breast cancer diagnosis. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 4(4), 372–380. doi:10.1007/s11764-010-0139-5.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bloom, J. R., Stewart, S. L., Chang, S., & Banks, P. J. (2004). Then and now: Quality of life of young breast cancer survivors. Psycho-Oncology, 13, 147–160. doi:10.1002/pon.794.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boinon, D., Sultan, S., Charles, C., Guillemeau, C., Delaloge, S., & Dauchy, S. (2014). Changes in psychological adjustment over the course of treatment for breast cancer: The predictive role of social sharing and social support. Psycho-Oncology, 23, 291–298. doi:10.1002/pon.3420.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bormann, J. E., Gifford, A. L., Shively, M., Smith, T. L., Redwine, L., Kelly, A., et al. (2006). Effects of spiritual mantram repetition in HIV outcomes: A randomized clinical trial. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 29(4), 359–376. doi:10.1007/s10865-006-9063-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bredle, J. M., Salsman, J. M., Debb, S. M., Arnold, B. J., & Cella, D. (2011). Spiritual well-being as a component of health-related quality of life: The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-Sp). Religions, 2, 77–94. doi:10.3390/rel2010077.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bussing, A., Michalsen, A., Balzat, H.-J., Grunther, R.-A., Ostermann, T., Neugebauer, E. A. M., & Matthiessen, P. F. (2009). Are spirituality and religiosity resources for patients with chronic pain conditions? Pain Medicine, 10(2), 327–339. doi:10.1111/j.1526-4637.2009.00572.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, J. D., Yoon, D. P., & Johnstone, B. (2010). Determining relationships between physical health and spiritual experience, religious practices, and congregational support in a heterogeneous medical sample. Journal of Religion and Health, 49(1), 3–17. doi:10.1007/s10943-008-9227-5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clough-Gorr, K. M., Stuck, A. E., Thwin, S. S., & Silliman, R. A. (2010). Older breast cancer survivors: Geriatric assessment domains are associated with poor tolerance of treatment adverse effects and predict mortality over 7 years. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 28(3), 380–386. doi:10.1200/JCO.2009.23.5440.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, A. B., & Osborne, J. W. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 10, 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cotton, S., Peterman, A., Leonard, A., & Tsevat, J. (2008). Validation of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual well-being Scale Expanded (FACIT-Sp-Ex) in patients with HIV/AIDS. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 35, s160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fetzer Institute and National Institute on Aging Working Group. (1999). Multidimensional measurement of religiousness/spirituality for use in health research. Kalamazoo, MI: Fetzer Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giedzinska, A. S., Meyerowitz, B. E., Ganz, P. A., & Rowland, J. H. (2004). Health-related quality of life in a multiethnic sample of breast cancer survivors. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 28, 39–51. doi:10.1207/s15324796abm2801_6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldzweig, G., Hasson-Ohayon, I., Meirovitz, A., Braun, M., Hubert, A., & Baider, L. (2010). Agents of support: Psychometric properties of the Cancer Perceived Agents of Social Support (CPASS) questionnaire. Psycho-Oncology, 19(11), 1179–1186. doi:10.1002/pon.1668.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Green, H. J., Ferguson, M., Shum, D. H., & Chambers, S. K. (2013). Prospective individual and social predictors of changes in adjustment for patients attending a regional cancer service. Quality of Life Research, 22(4), 759–770. doi:10.1007/s11136-012-0204-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hayton, J. C., Allen, D. G., & Scarpello, V. (2004). Factor retention decisions in exploratory factor analysis: A tutorial on parallel analysis. Organizational Research Methods, 7(2), 191–205. doi:10.1177/1094428104263675.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland, J. C., Kash, K. M., Passik, S., Gronert, M. K., Sison, A., Lederberg, M., et al. (1998). A brief spiritual beliefs inventory for use in quality of life research in life threatening illness. Psycho-Oncology, 7, 460–469. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1611(199811/12)7:6%3C460:AID-PON328%3E3.0.CO;2-R.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Horn, J. L. (1965). A rationale and test for the number of factors in factor analysis. Psychometrika, 32, 179–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howsepian, B. A., & Merluzzi, T. V. (2009). Religious beliefs, social support, self-efficacy, and adjustment to cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 18, 1069–1079. doi:10.1002/pon.1442.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys, L. G., & Montanelli, R. G. (1975). An investigation of the parallel analysis criterion for determining the number of common factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 10, 193–206. doi:10.1207/s15327906mbr1002_5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Idler, E. L., Boulifard, D. A., Labouvie, E., Chen, Y. Y., Krause, T. J., & Contrada, R. J. (2009). Looking inside the black box of attendance at services: New measures for exploring an old dimension in religion and health research. International Journal of Psycholology and Religion, 19, 1–20. doi:10.1080/10508610802471096.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnstone, B., Yoon, D. P., Cohen, D., Schopp, L. H., McCormack, G., Campbell, J., & Smith, M. (2012). Relationships among spirituality, religious practices, personality factors, and health for five different faith traditions. Journal of Religion and Health, 51, 1017–1041. doi:10.1007/s10943-012-9615-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnstone, B., Yoon, D. P., Franklin, K. L., Schopp, L., & Hinkebein, J. (2009). Re-conceptualizing the factor structure of the brief multidimensional measure of religiousness/spirituality. Journal of Religion and Health, 48(2), 146–163. doi:10.1007/s10943-008-9179-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, J. H. (2006). Factor analysis in counseling psychology research, training, and practice: Principles, advances, and applications. The Counseling Psychologist, 34, 684–718. doi:10.1177/0011000006286347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristeller, J. L., Sheets, V., Johnson, T., & Frank, B. (2011). Understanding religious and spiritual influences on adjustment to cancer: Individual patterns and differences. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 34(6), 550–561. doi:10.1007/s10865-011-9335-7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kroenke, C. H., Kubzansky, L. D., Schernhammer, E. S., Holmes, M. D., & Kawachi, I. (2006). Social networks, social support, and survival after breast cancer diagnosis. Journal of Clinical Oncolology, 24(7), 1105–1111. doi:10.1007/s10549-013-2477-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kroenke, C. H., Quesenberry, C., Kwan, M. L., Sweeny, C., Castillo, A., & Caan, B. J. (2012). Social networks, social support, and burden in relationships, and mortality after breast cancer diagnosis in the Life After Breast Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) study. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 139(2), 515–527. doi:10.1007/s10549-012-2253-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leung, J., Pachana, N. A., & McLaughlin, D. (2014). Social support and health-related quality of life in women with breast cancer: A longitudinal study. Psycho-Oncology,. doi:10.1002/pon.3523.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Levine, E. G., Aviv, C., Yoo, G., Ewing, C., & Au, A. (2009). The benefits of prayer on mood and well-being of breast cancer survivors. Supportive Care in Cancer, 17(3), 295–306. doi:10.1007/s00520-008-0482-5.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Levine, E. G., Yoo, G., Aviv, C., Ewing, C., & Au, A. (2007). Ethnicity and spirituality in breast cancer survivors. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 1, 212–225. doi:10.1007/s11764-007-0024-z.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Levine, E. G., Yoo, G., Aviv, C., Ewing, C., & Au, A. (2012). Spiritual coping among breast cancer survivors from different ethnic groups. In C. A. Stark & D. C. Bonner (Eds.), Spirituality: Belief systems, societal impact, and roles in coping (pp. 61–84). New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacCallum, R. C., Widaman, K. F., Zhang, S., & Hong, S. (1999). Sample size in factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 4(1), 84–99. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.4.1.84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazzotti, E., Mazzuca, F., Cebastiani, C., Scoppola, A., & Marchetti, P. (2011). Predictors of existential and religious well-being among cancer patients. Supportive Care Cancer, 19, 1931–1937. doi:10.1007/s00520-010-1033-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milstein, J. M. (2008). Introducing spirituality in medical care: Transition from hopelessness to wholeness. JAMA, 299(20), 2440–2441. doi:10.1001/jama.299.20.2440.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, P. E., Canada, A. L., Fitchett, G., Stein, K., Crammer, C., & Peterman, A. H. (2010). An examination of the 3‐factor model and structural invariance across racial/ethnic groups for the FACIT‐Sp: A report from the American Cancer Society’ Study of Cancer Survivors‐II (SCS‐II). Psycho-Oncology, 19(3), 264–272. doi:10.1002/pon.1559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, B. P. (2000). SPSS and SAS programs for determining the number of components using parallel analysis and Velicer’s MAP test. Behavior Research Methods, Instrumentation, and Computers, 32(3), 396–402. doi:10.3758/BF03200807.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. M. (2000). The many methods of religious coping: Development and initial validation of the RCOPE. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56, 519–543. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(200004)56:4<519:AID-JCLP6>3.0.CO;2-1.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peterman, A. H., Fitchett, G., Brady, M. J., Hernandez, L., & Cella, D. (2002). Measuring spiritual well-being in people with cancer: The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-Sp). Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24, 49–58. doi:10.1207/S15324796ABM2401_06.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ruland, C. M., Andersen, T., Jeneson, A., Moore, S., Grimsbø, G. H., Børøsund, E., & Ellison, M. C. (2013). Effects of an internet support system to assist cancer patients in reducing symptom distress: a randomized controlled trial. Cancer Nursing, 36(1), 6–17.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, N. (1996). Uses and abuses of coefficient alpha. Psychological Assessment, 8(4), 350–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherbourne, C., & Stewart, A. (1991). The MOS social support survey. Social Science and Medicine, 32, 705–714. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(91)90150-B.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silverstein, A. B. (1987). Note on the parallel analysis criterion for determining the number of common factors or principal components. Psychological Reports, 61, 351–354. doi:10.2466/pr0.1987.60.2.376.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thuné-Boyle, I. C., Stygall, J. A., Keshtgar, M. R., & Newman, S. P. (2006). Do religious/spiritual coping strategies affect illness adjustment in patients with cancer? A systematic review of the literature. Social Science and Medicine, 63, 151–164. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.11.055.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Velicer, W. F., Eaton, C. A., & Fava, J. L. (2000). Construct explication through factor or component analysis: A review and evaluation of alternative procedures for determining the number of factors or components. In R. D. Goffin & E. Helmes (Eds.), Problems and solutions in human assessment: Honoring Douglas N. Jackson at seventy (pp. 41–71). Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Visser, A., Garssen, B., & Vingerhoets, A. (2009). Spirituality and well-being in cancer patients: A review. Psycho-Oncology, 19, 565–572. doi:10.1002/pon.1626.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitford, H. S., Olver, I. N., & Peterson, M. J. (2008). Spirituality as a core domain in the assessment of quality of life in oncology. Psycho-Oncology, 17, 1121–1128. doi:10.1002/pon.1322.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yoo, G. J., Levine, E. G., Aviv, C., Ewing, C., & Au, A. (2010). Older women, breast cancer, and social support. Supportive Care in Cancer, 18, 1521–1530. doi:10.1007/s00520-009-0774-4.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) Grant 5 P20 MD000544-02 from the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities, NIH, to San Francisco State University. The collection of cancer incidence data used in this study was supported by the California Department of Public Health as part of the statewide cancer reporting program mandated by California Health and Safety Code Section 103885; the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program under contract HHSN261201000140C awarded to the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, contract HHSN261201000035C awarded to the University of Southern California, and contract HHSN261201000034C awarded to the Public Health Institute; and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Program of Cancer Registries, under agreement #U58DP003862-01 awarded to the California Department of Public Health. The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors, and endorsement by the State of California Department of Public Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or their Contractors and Subcontractors is not intended nor should be inferred. The authors would like to acknowledge the help of our other investigators on the larger project: Caryn Aviv, Ph.D., Cheryl Ewing, M.D., and Alfred Au, M.D. as well as our research assistants: Yaffa Alter, Heather Law, Erin McCoy, Ana Freire, Mariaelena Gonzalez, Regina Lagman, Mabel Lam, Beverly Lynn, Sann Situ, Chris Van Onselen, Shelley Volz, Ivy Wong, Gloria Boehm, Tina Chan, Julie Armin, Ann Gilliard, Qiu Chen, and Laureen Hom.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Ellen G. Levine

  2. P.O. Box 2278, Castro Valley, CA, 94546, USA

    Ellen G. Levine

  3. San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Stephen Vong

  4. Department of Asian American Studies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Grace J. Yoo

Authors
  1. Ellen G. Levine
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stephen Vong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Grace J. Yoo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ellen G. Levine.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Original MOS Survey

Emotional/informational support subscale:

  • Someone you can count on to listen to you when you need to talk.

  • Someone to give you information to help you understand a situation.

  • Someone to give you good advice about a crisis.

  • Someone to confide in or talk to about yourself or your problems.

  • Someone whose advice you really want.

  • Someone to share your most private worries and fears with.

  • Someone to turn to for suggestions about how to deal with a personal problem.

  • Someone who understands your problems.

Tangible support subscale:

  • Someone to help you if you were confined to bed.

  • Someone to take you to the doctor if you needed it.

  • Someone to prepare your meals if you were unable to do it yourself.

  • Someone to help with daily chores if you were sick.

Affectionate support subscale:

  • Someone who shows you love and affection.

  • Someone to love you and make you feel wanted.

  • Someone who hugs you.

Positive social interaction subscale:

  • Someone to have a good time with.

  • Someone to get together with for relaxation.

  • Someone to do something enjoyable with.

Additional item:

  • Someone to do things with to help you get your mind off things.

Spiritual support subscale: not included in original MOS Survey:

  • Someone that will pray for you.

  • Someone that you can talk to about spiritual matters.

  • A religious leader that will provide you spiritual advice/guidance/encouragement.

Appendix 2: EFA Results

Emotional/informational support subscale:

  • Someone you can count on to listen to you when you need to talk.

  • Someone to give you information to help you understand a situation.

  • Someone to give you good advice about a crisis.

  • Someone to confide in or talk to about yourself or your problems.

  • Someone whose advice you really want.

  • Someone to share your most private worries and fears with.

  • Someone to turn to for suggestions about how to deal with a personal problem.

  • Someone who understands your problems.

Tangible support subscale:

  • Someone to help you if you were confined to bed.

  • Someone to take you to the doctor if you needed it.

  • Someone to prepare your meals if you were unable to do it yourself.

  • Someone to help with daily chores if you were sick.

Affectionate support subscale:

  • Someone who shows you love and affection.

  • Someone to love you and make you feel wanted.

  • Someone who hugs you.

  • Someone to have a good time with

  • Someone to get together with for relaxation

  • Someone to do something enjoyable with

  • Someone to do things with to help you get your mind off things

Spiritual support subscale:

  • Someone that will pray for you.

  • Someone that you can talk to about spiritual matters.

  • A religious leader that will provide you spiritual advice/guidance/encouragement.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Levine, E.G., Vong, S. & Yoo, G.J. Development and Initial Validation of a Spiritual Support Subscale for the MOS Social Support Survey. J Relig Health 54, 2355–2366 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0005-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0005-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation