Family Support Scale – FSS
Measures the helpfulness of various sources of social support to families raising young children.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Family Support Scale – FSS was developed by Carl J. Dunst, Vance Jenkins, & Carol M. Trivette (1984). It is designed to measure Family Social Support. The scale is intended for use with Parents of young children.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 18 items organized into 4 factors/subscales: Familial Support, Spousal Support, Social Support, Professional Support.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Familial Support | 1,2,3,5,8 | 5 |
| Spousal Support | 4 | 1 |
| Social Support | 6,7,9,10,11,12,13 | 7 |
| Professional Support | 14,15,16,17,18 | 5 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: NA = Not available / Not applicable, 1 = Not helpful at all, 2 = Sometimes helpful, 3 = Generally helpful, 4 = Very helpful, 5 = Extremely helpful.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 18 to 90. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low perceived support: 18 – 42
- Moderate perceived support: 43 – 66
- High perceived support: 67 – 90
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alpha ranges from .77 to .85.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.