Social support and the woman with breast cancer: Issues of measurement

The ability of the nurse to accurately and consistently measure the social support variable is invaluable to assessing the client's well being. This methodological study, based on Neuman's holistic view of the client, proposed to substantiate the reliability and validity of the PRQ85 as a measure of perceived social support with women experiencing breast cancer; A sample of 82 women with breast cancer responded to a composite questionnaire consisting of two social support measures (Personal Resource Questionnaire (PRQ85)), Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (NSSQ)), two instruments to measure the mental health constructs depression (Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)) and anxiety (Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory), and a demographic measure. The reliability (short-term stability and internal consistency) was assessed by test/retest method and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Construct validity was evaluated by assessing relationships of the PRQ85, Part 2 with the BDI and the Trait Anxiety Scale. Criterion validity was determined with concurrent testing the PRQ85, Part 1 and 2 with the more established measure of social support the NSSQ with women experiencing the stressor of breast cancer; The results indicated that the PRQ85 does have reliability, both short-term stability and internal consistency. Criterion validity and construct validity were supported with low to moderate, but significant relationships with the NSSQ, and inverse moderately significant relationships with BDI and the Trait Anxiety Inventory. The findings were supported with this sample in clinical settings.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Nursing

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1993

Author dc:creator

• Ivey, Bonnie Margaret

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/322

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1321