Validation of the PRQ85 social support measure for adolescents

The purposes of this study were to factor analyze the 25-item Personal Resource Questionnaire (PRQ) 85-Part II, a social support measure, and to establish construct validity for the instrument among adolescents by testing two hypotheses derived from theoretical propositions by Weiss (1974) concerning the relational provisions of social support. The purposes were accomplished using a sample of 325 adolescents, aged 12 to 21. According to the criteria used in this study, a four-factor structure, resulting from a principal components analysis with an oblique rotation, best represented the multidimensionality of the PRQ85-Part II in adolescents. A second-order factor analysis indicated that the four first-order factors correlated to form one factor, which consisted of 17 items and was labeled Perceived Social Support. Evidence in support of construct validity for both the 17-item and 25-item PRQ85-Part II was provided by statistically significant correlations found between the two scales and the theoretically relevant variables of perceived health status and symptom patterns. The contributions of this study to the psychometric properties of the PRQ85-Part II can be used in future research concerning social support in adolescents.