Qualitative Exploration of Social Support

Participants were taking part in a wider study and responded to three measures during one-on-one interviews, beginning with demographic questions, and followed by the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and semi-structured interview. A timeline approach was utilized by the researcher, which helped to organize the data and provided a participative space in which to discuss sensitive topics. In some cases, the participants spontaneously started talking about their lives and in this case the researcher allowed them to talk freely without interruption and reordered the interview as seemed to fit best, whilst ensuring that the basic interview topics were covered. In this paper we report on the qualitative elements of the study.