Affiliations: Forschungsgruppe Psychosomatische Rehabilitation an
der Charité und der Rehabilitationsklinik Seehof der BfA,
Teltow/Berlin | Heinrich-Heine-Klinik, Neu Fahrland
Note: [] Korrespondenzadresse: Prof. Dr. Michael Linden, Forschungsgruppe
Psychosomatische Rehabilitation, Rehabilitationsklinik Seehof der BfA,
Lichterfelder Allee 55. 14513 Teltow/Berlin. Tel.: 03328/345678; Fax:
03328/345555; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Objectives: There are many instruments for the assessment of the
personal social network of persons, but mostly these are either research
instruments not suitable for clinical purposes or do not include measures of
social support and strain. This paper describes the "Multidimensional Social
Contact Circle" (MuSC), a new interview designed to perform a multidimensional
assessment of the social net in clinical practice or research. Method: The concept, application, and evaluation of the MuSC are
presented. Based on a sample of psychosomatic patients (N=101) the
retestreliability (one week) is reported and descriptive results are presented
for illustrative purposes. Results: The time needed for the assessment was 12.5 min.
Retest-reliability was very good for the variable "size of the entire net"
(r_{tt}=0.95), and moderate to high for indices of social
support (r_{tt}=0.59–0.87), social strain
(r_{tt}=0.41–0.81), and satisfaction
(r_{tt}=0.64–0.71). Unselected inpatients in
psychosomatic rehabilitation reported a total size of their social net of 20.8
persons (SD=10.2; Min=4, Max=51) and contact in 5 (SD=1.3) areas on
average. 36% had contacts in 6–7 areas of life and can be seen as
optimally integrated. 8% felt they got "very good", 45% "good", 41% "moderate" and
6% "insufficient" support. 2% reported
"much", 25% "moderate", 56% "mild" and 17% "no" burdens. Conclusion: TheMuSC is an economic and reliable instrument for the diagnosis of
the social net. It is applicable in clinical practice as well as research
projects.
Keywords: Social network, social support, social strain, interview
