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Updated: Jun 9, 2025

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
A Systematic Review of Social Support Instruments for Measurement-Based Care in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
John C Fortney1,2, Natalia Garcia2,3, Tracy L Simpson2,4
1VA Health Services Research and Development, Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, Seattle, WA, USA.
Social support measures can enhance post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) care. Nine instruments show promise for measurement-based care (MBC) in PTSD treatment, though more research is needed.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Social support is a key therapeutic target for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Systematic assessment of social support is currently lacking in routine clinical care for PTSD.
- Measurement-based care (MBC) offers a framework to integrate patient-reported outcomes into clinical practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the quality of patient-reported social support instruments used in PTSD research.
- To identify suitable instruments for implementing measurement-based care (MBC) for social support in PTSD treatment.
- To assess the psychometric properties and clinical utility of social support measures in traumatized populations.
Main Methods:
- A systematic review identified validated social support measures used in research with traumatized populations since 1990.
- Instrument development and validation studies were assessed using updated COSMIN guidelines.
- Measures were rated for clinical utility and psychometric properties in traumatized samples.
Main Results:
- Twenty-nine social support instruments were identified across 231 studies.
- Fourteen instruments demonstrated sufficient content validity and internal consistency reliability for potential clinical use.
- Nine instruments showed comparable psychometric properties in traumatized samples, making them suitable for preliminary inclusion in MBC for PTSD.
Conclusions:
- Existing social support measures can improve clinical care for PTSD by providing routine feedback.
- Implementing MBC for social support has the potential to enhance treatment outcomes for PTSD.
- The findings suggest MBC for social support could benefit other psychiatric conditions as well.
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