[Brief Scale to assess Social Support in Chronic Diseases (SUCE-4)]

Social support is an important resource for coping with serious chronic diseases such as cancer. The available questionnaires for the measurement of social support are usually extensive. So far, available short versions do not completely aim at situation-specific requirements of the social environment of chronically ill patients. Therefore, a short form of a measure of perceived social support was developed consisting of only 4 items: the SUCE-4.

A sample of cancer patients (N=424) was examined at 2 time points. The factor structure was evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and reliability and validity were examined.

The expected factor structure was confirmed (for CFA: RMSEA=0.028). The short questionnaire revealed a good internal consistency (Cronbach's α>0.86). In terms of the first indications of validity, significant and expected correlations with psychological quality of life, self-efficacy expectations, depression and anxiety were found at both time points.

The SUCE-4 is an economical, reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of perceived social support in the context of severe chronic diseases such as cancer.