BERLIN SOCIAL SUPPORT SCALES (BSSS): POLISH VERSION OF BSSS AND PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON ITS PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES

Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS) are self-report measures to assess perceived available support, need for support, support seeking, actually received support and protective buffernig support. The objective of the study was to develop a Polish version of BSSS and to examine their psychometric properties. The data were collected in three groups of patients (n = 211) and in one group of healthy individuals (n = 421), aged 18 to 72. To test the criterion validity, other measures of social support, measures of well-being, health behaviors and self-regulatory strategies (planning) were employed. The results confirm that BSSS are internally consistent and valid measures of social support dimenstions. Confirmatory factor analysis showed reasonable fit of the four-factor model (for perceived available support, need for support, support seeking, actually received support). They indicate that the Polish version of BSSS may be a viable and reliable measure of social support dimensions.