The influence of physical, psychosocial, and sociocultural supplies on mental health and life satisfaction: A test of Caplan's supply model.

The Supplies Inventory was constructed to test Caplan's (1964) hypothesis that mental health/disorder was related to access to physical, psychosocial and sociocultural supplies. Each of the three Inventory Scales was shown to have appropriate test-retest reliability over a two week interval, appropriate average item to total scale score correlations, and high internal consistency reliability. The hypothesis tested was confirmed; on each supply scale the low access group reported significantly less life satisfaction and significantly more psychological distress than the high access group. The differences in psychological distress between high and low access groups were significant both statistically and clinically. Discussion focused on use of the Inventory of Supplies in primary prevention in Mental Health.