TPC-Journal-V4-Issue4

The Professional Counselor \Volume 4, Issue 4 394 Table 1 Frequencies of Participant Responses for SES Variables (N = 49) Variable M ( SD ) % ( n ) Education level 1.80 (1.08) 1. Did not finish high school 0.0% (0) 2. High school diploma or equivalent 4.1% (2) 3. Some college 40.8% (20) 4. Undergraduate degree 40.8% (20) 5. In master’s program 2.0% (1) 6. Master’s degree 10.2% (5) 7. In doctoral program 2.0% (1) 8. Doctoral degree 0.0% (0) Income level 4.04 (1.99) 1. $0–$10,000 4.1% (2) 2. $10,000–$20,000 22.4% (11) 3. $20,000–$30,000 26.5% (13) 4. $30,000–$40,000 8.2% (4) 5. $40,000–$60,000 8.2% (4) 6. $60,000–$80,000 18.4% (9) 7. $80,000–$100,000 6.1% (3) 8. > $100,000 6.1% (3) Health insurance status 1. Uninsured 46.9% (23) 2. Insured 53.1% (26) Perceived financial security 3.45 (1.57) 1. Great financial difficulty 20.4% (10) 2. Usually not enough money 10.2% (5) 3. Enough money half the time 10.2% (5) 4. Usually enough money 22.4% (11) 5. Enough money for needs 36.7% (18) Perceived SES 1.73 (0.49) 1. Lower economic class 28.6% (14) 2. Middle economic class 69.4% (34) 3. Upper economic class 2.0% (1) Subjective Social Support. Social support was measured using the SSS subscale of the DSSI (Blazer et al., 1990). The SSS consists of 10 items rated on a 3-point scale; for this study, however, a 5-point Likert-type scale was used, resulting in a possible range of 10–50. Prior studies incorporating the 5-point scale have demonstrated enhanced internal consistency compared to the 3-point scale of the original version, and comparable scale correlations indicative of concurrent validity (Leibert, 2010). Items pertain either to the perceived frequency of positive, fulfilling family and peer interactions (1 = none of the time, 5 = all of the time) or to the degree of satisfaction with family and peer relationships (1 = extremely dissatisfied, 5 = extremely satisfied). Internal consistency was good in the present study ( a = .82).