Relationships Among Disease, Social Support, and Perceived Health: A Lifespan Approach

Abstract

We examined the relationship between the cumulative presence of major disease (cancer, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension), social support, and self-reported general and emotional well-being in a community representative sample of predominantly White and African American respondents (N = 1349). Across all ages, greater presence of disease predicted poorer reported general health, and predicted lower emotional well-being for respondents 40 and above. In contrast, social support predicted better-reported general and emotional well-being.We predicted that different types of social support (blood relatives, children, friends, community members) would be relatively more important for health in different age groups based on a lifespan or life stage model. This hypothesis was supported; across all ages, social support was related to better reported general and emotional health, but sources of support differed by age. Broadly, those in younger age groups tended to list familial members as their strongest sources of support, whereas older group members listed their friends and community members. As a whole, social support mediated the effect of disease on reported wellbeing,however, moderated mediation by type of support was not significant. The results are consistent with a lifespan approach to changing social ties throughout the life course.

Racial Disparities in Emotional Distress Among Cancer Survivors: Insights from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS)

“…After adjusting for several previously identified confounding variables, the findings show a moderating effect of race on the relationship between cancer history and emotional distress, with African American cancer long-term survivors experiencing significantly higher levels of emotional distress compared to the general cancer and non-cancer populations. Consistent with previous studies, the study also found associations between socio-demographic factors [7], physical health [20], self-efficacy [11,21], optimal lifestyle behaviors [22][23][24], and emotional distress.…”

Do We Know Where We Stand? Neighborhood Relative Income, Subjective Social Status, and Health

“…For example, living in a high-income neighborhood is related to greater social integration among neighbors (Marcus, Echeverria, Holland, Abraido-Lanza & Passannante, 2015). In turn, social support from community members is protective for physical and emotional well-being (Heinze, Kruger, Reischl, Cupal & Zimmerman, 2015). Finally, it is possible that the findings are driven by selection; low-income individuals who are healthier may be better equipped to secure housing in high-income neighborhoods.…”

The Relationship Between Social Support, Spirituality With Stress Towards the Burden of Family Caregivers of Cancer Patients: A Literature Review

“…The concept of social support is interpersonal interactions with others that can lead the positive feelings such as feeling loved, close, safe, belonging to a group, and providing emotional, physical, and information assistance (15). Social support covering three elements, namely, emotional, instrumental, and information (16).…”

“…Sources of social support can come from friends, children, family members, and partners (17). The sources of social support can come from partners, children, family, friends, neighbors, and community members (16). Social support plays a vital role throughout a person's life.…”

“…A large family is one of the primary sources of social support. Adult individuals in the 55-85 years age range experience a shift in social networking with a decrease in the number of friends and an increase in the number of close relatives (16). On the other hand, older adults tend to be more dependent on friends as social support than family members or children due to an obligation in the family (16).…”