A Review of the ENRICHD Social Support Inventory Psychometric Instrument

Abstract

Background: Social support is an increasingly important construct in health research. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that limited social support is associated with adverse health outcomes. Nursing researchers are uniquely positioned to advance the science of social support to improve patient outcomes. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the ENRICHD Social Support Inventory (ESSI), an instrument designed to measure social support. Methods: A CINAHL search was used to locate publications that provided psychometric attributes of the ENRICHD Social Support Inventory (ESSI) instrument. The COSMIN (Consensus-based Standards for Selection of Health Measurement Instruments) was used as the framework to evaluate the psychometric qualities of the social support instrument. Results: The ESSI measure concept and construct design were fairly identified. Multiple inquiries have revealed confounding mechanisms of instrument administration and scoring, which were reported by different studies. Investigators have made several instrument adaptations. Conclusion: The use of psychometric measurement principles and practices is essential for well-designed research studies on social support. It is important to prioritize the development of linguistically appropriate social support tools to effectively support ethnically diverse populations.