Overview

Multidimensional, functional social support questionnaire that measures perceived support. The original scale by Broadhead et al 1998 was validated with 8 items that measure the quantity of confidant (having someone to share and discuss important matters in life) and affective (being shown love and caring) support. Antelman et al. adapted the scale for use in Tanzania; this scale has 10 items and measures emotional/affective support and material/instrumental support. The Duke-UNC scale has also been adapted and shown to have internal consistency in Nicaragua and Uganda.

Scoring and Interpretation

In the original Duke-UNC scale there are six response options for each item ranging from “as much as I would like” to “much less than I would like”. In the Antelman et al scale, items are scored using a four-point scale with 4 is “as much as I would like” and 1 is “never”. A mean score of less than 3 across the 10 items was classified as low social support.

Citation

Broadhead, W. E., Stephen H. Gehlbach, Frank V. de Gruy, and Berton H. Kaplan. 1988. “The Duke–UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire: Measurement of Social Support in Family Medicine Patients.” Medical Care. 26:7: 709–23.

Context and Applications to Child Nutrition

Nicaragua 
Ziaei, Shirin, Mariela Contreras, Elmer Zelaya Blandón, Lars-Åke Persson, Anders Hjern, and Eva-Charlotte Ekström. 2015. "Women’s Autonomy and Social Support and Their Associations with Infant and Young Child Feeding and Nutritional Status: Community-Based Survey in Rural Nicaragua." Public Health Nutrition 18(11): 1979-1990.

Tanzania 
Kaaya, Sylvia, Maria E. Garcia, Nan Li, Jeffrey Lienert, William Twayigize, Donna Spiegelman, and Mary C. Smith Fawzi. 2016. "Association of Maternal Depression and Infant Nutritional Status Among Women Living with HIV in Tanzania." Maternal & Child Nutrition. 12(3):603-613.

Petraro, Paul, Christopher Duggan, Gernard Msamanga, Karen E. Peterson, Donna Spiegelman, and Wafaie Fawzi. 2011. "Predictors of Breastfeeding Cessation among HIV‐infected Women in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania." Maternal & Child Nutrition 7(3): 273-283.

Santoso, Marianne V., Rachel N. Bezner Kerr, Neema Kassim, Haikael Martin, Elias Mtinda, Peter Njau, Kelvin Mtei, John Hoddinott, and Sera L. Young. 2021. "A Nutrition-Sensitive Agroecology Intervention in Rural Tanzania Increases Children's Dietary Diversity and Household Food Security But Does Not Change Child Anthropometry: Results From a Cluster-Randomized Trial." The Journal of Nutrition 151(7): 2010-2021.

Uganda 
Ickes, Scott B., Michael Wu, Maia P. Mandel, and Alison C. Roberts. 2018. "Associations Between Social Support, Psychological Well‐Being, Decision Making, Empowerment, Infant and Young Child Feeding, and Nutritional Status in Ugandan Children Ages 0 to 24 Months." Maternal & Child Nutrition 14(1): e12483.

Adaptations

Antelman, Gretchen, Mary C. Smith Fawzi, Sylvia Kaaya, Jessie Mbwambo, Gernard I. Msamanga, David J. Hunter, and Wafaie W. Fawzi. 2001. "Predictors of HIV-1 Serostatus Disclosure: A Prospective Study Among HIV-Infected Pregnant Women in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania." AIDS (London, England) 15(14): 1865.

Formative Research

N/A