Social functioning (SPF-IL)

The Social Production Function Instrument for the Level of well-being, short version [SPF-IL(s)]¹⁾ measures overall well-being via self-report (sections: wellbeing & subjective health and mental health).
The SPF-IL is being used in research as a marker for quality of life (together with the RAND-36), especially the social aspects of well-being. Since the importance of social well-being and, on the other hand, the deleterious effects of social stress and loneliness are increasingly recognized, the instrument will likely be used in the future to assess the role of social well-being in a wide array of health issues (or vice versa).

Background and validation

The SPF-IL is based on the Theory of Social Production Functions²⁾.
In this theory, overall well-being is conceptualized as the result of

physical well-being - the fulfillment of two basic physical needs: “comfort” and “stimulation”
social well-being - the fulfillment of three social needs: “affection”, “behavioral confirmation”, and “ status”.

The SPF-IL(s) consists of 15 items: 6 items covering physical well-being and 9 covering social well-being. For each item participants had to indicate how many times they felt that way or experienced it that way in the last year: • 1) not at all, 2) sometimes, 3) often, 4) always

Dimension	Need	Variable
Physical Well-being	Comfort	12, 13, 14
Physical Well-being	Stimulation	15, 16, 17
Social Well-being	Affection	1, 2, 3
Social Well-being	Confirmation	4, 5, 6, 10, 11*
Social Well-being	Status	7, 8, 9

*Items 5 and 6 were replaced by items 10 and 11 in a later version of the SPF-IL.
The SPF-IL was validated in several published studies ³⁾ ⁴⁾ and was found to have good psychometric properties.

Several publications have used Lifelines SPF-IL data in their analyses ⁵⁾⁶⁾⁷⁾⁸⁾⁹⁾

Variables

The following SPF-IL variables are collected in Lifelines. Note that the SPF-IL moved from 1A Questionnaire 1 to 1A Questionnaire 2 during assessment 1A.

Questions English	Questions Dutch	Code	Variable	Assessment	Age
the following questions are about how you felt in the past year	de volgende vragen gaan over hoe u zich voelt (afgelopen jaar).
do people pay attention to you?	hebben mensen aandacht voor u?	spfil_affection_adu_q_01	spfil1	1A 2B 3B ACTQ	18+
do people help you if you have a problem?	wil men u helpen als u een probleem heeft?	spfil_affection_adu_q_02	spfil2	1A 2B 3B ACTQ	18+
do you feel that people really love you?	voelt u dat mensen echt van u houden?	spfil_affection_adu_q_03	spfil3	1A 2B 3B ACTQ	18+
there are situations in which we deal with groups of people, for example at home, at work or during our leisure time. do others appreciate your role in the group?	er zijn situaties waarin men te maken heeft met groepen mensen, zoals op school, op het werk, bij familie, bij een vereniging of kerk. waarderen anderen uw rol in de groep?	spfil_confirmation_adu_q_04	spfil4	1A 2B 3B ACTQ	18+
when you are at school, at work, with family, at an association or in church, do you feel like you belong?	als u op school, op het werk, bij familie, een vereniging of de kerk bent, heeft u dan het gevoel dat u erbij hoort?	spfil_confirmation_adu_q_05	spfil5	1A 2B 3B ACTQ	18+
do others appreciate the things you do?	waarderen anderen de dingen die u doet?	spfil_confirmation_adu_q_06	spfil6	1A 2B 3B ACTQ	18+
do people think you do better than others?	vindt men dat u beter presteert dan anderen?	spfil_status_adu_q_07	spfil7	1A 2B 3B ACTQ	18+
do people ﬁnd you an inﬂuential person?	ziet men u als iemand met invloed?	spfil_status_adu_q_08	spfil8	1A 2B 3B ACTQ	18+
are you known for the things you have accomplished?	staat u bekend om de dingen die u hebt gepresteerd?	spfil_status_adu_q_09	spfil9	1A 2B 3B ACTQ	18+
do people ﬁnd you reliable?	vinden mensen u betrouwbaar?	spfil_status_adu_q_10	spfil10	ACTQ	60-80
do you feel useful to others?	voelt u zich nuttig voor anderen?	spfil_status_adu_q_11	spfil11	ACTQ	60-80
in the past few months have you felt relaxed?	voelde u zich het afgelopen jaar ontspannen?	spfil_status_adu_q_12	spfil12	ACTQ	60-80
in the past few months have you felt perfectly healthy?	voelde u zich het afgelopen jaar goed gezond?	spfil_status_adu_q_13	spfil13	ACTQ	60-80
in the past few months have you felt physically comfortable?	voelde u zich het afgelopen jaar lichamelijk prettig?	spfil_status_adu_q_14	spfil14	ACTQ	60-80
are your activities challenging to you?	zijn uw bezigheden een uitdaging voor u?	spfil_status_adu_q_15	spfil15	ACTQ	60-80
do you really enjoy your activities?	hebt u veel plezier in uw bezigheden?	spfil_status_adu_q_16	spfil16	ACTQ	60-80
how often are you fully concentrated when doing something?	hoe vaak bent u volledig geconcentreerd met iets bezig?	spfil_status_adu_q_17	spfil17	ACTQ	60-80

¹⁾ , ³⁾

Nieboer, A., Lindenberg, S., Boomsma, A., & van Bruggen, A. C. (2005). Dimensions of well-being and their measurement: the SPF-IL scale. Social Indicators Research, 73: 313-353

²⁾

Lindenberg, S. (1996) Continuities in the theory of social production functions. In: Lindenberg, S.M. & Ganzeboom, H.B.G. (eds), Verklarende sociologie: opstellen voor Reinhard Wippler [Explanatory sociology: Essays in honor of Reinhard Wippler]. Thesis, Amsterdam, pp 169-184

⁴⁾

Steverink, N. & Lindenberg, S. (2006). Which social needs are important for subjective well-being? What happens to them with aging? Psychology and Aging, 21, 281-290

⁵⁾

Kuiper et al. (2016) The relationship between social functioning and subjective memory complaints in older persons: a population‐based longitudinal cohort study; International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 32(10): 1059-1071

⁶⁾

Klijs et al. (2017) Do social relations buffer the effect of neighborhood deprivation on healthrelated quality of life? Results from the LifeLines Cohort Study; Health & Place 44: 43-51

⁷⁾

Klijs et al. (2016) Neighborhood income and major depressive disorder in a large Dutch population: results from the LifeLines Cohort study. BMC Public Health 16: 773

⁸⁾

Wanders et al. (2016) Casting wider nets for anxiety and depression: disability-driven cross-diagnostic subtypes in a large cohort. Psychological Medicine 46(16): 3371-3382

⁹⁾

Peters et al. (2015) Construct validity of the Groningen Frailty Indicator established in a large sample of home-dwelling elderly persons: Evidence of stability across age and gender. Experimental Gerontology 69: 120-141

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Social functioning (SPF-IL)

Background and validation

Variables

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