The Development and Validation of the Social Recovery Measure

Background and Purpose: Psychiatric disability and recovery are beginning to be explored as inherently social phenomena. Such exploration requires the measurement of the social aspects of recovery. Social recovery has been defined as the ability to lead a full and contributing life with equality of citizenship.  Social recovery concerns social interaction, meaningful activity, and community participation. This study reports on the development and validation of a measure of social recovery. Methods: A preliminary measure was developed through holding focus groups with a total of 41 individuals with lived experience of mental illness and recovery. An expert panel reviewed the instrument in order to clarify items. Another focus group and five individual interviews were held to further refine the measure. The measure was then administered to a purposive sample of 300 individuals in recovery. Participants took the Recovery Assessment Scale and the Questionnaire about the Process of Recovery instrument to assess convergent construct validity and the Beck Hopeless Scale to establish discriminant construct validity. Reliability was assessed using the Cronbach’s coefficient alpha statistic and the test-retest method. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was utilized to explore the underlying factor structure.  Results: Psychometric analyses resulted in a 41-item multidimensional scale consisting of four subscales: Connectedness, Hope, Positive Identity, and Meaning in Life. Cronbach’s α for the overall scale was .8 and for each subscale was .7 or above. Findings support the measure’s content, criterion, discriminant, and factorial validity. Conclusions and Implications: Recovery science will only advance with reliable measurement.The findings of this study suggest that the Social Recovery Measure has good validity and reliability. The SRM has utility for needs assessment, evaluation of intervention efficacy, and appreciation of social recovery processes.