SAGE-Hindawi Access to Research Journal of Aging Research Volume 2011, Article ID 280727, 10 pages doi:10.4061/2011/280727 Research Article Comparing the Support-Efﬁcacy Model among Centenarians Living in Private Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, and Nursing Homes G. Kevin Randall,1 Peter Martin,2 Maurice MacDonald,3 Jennifer Margrett,2 Alex J. Bishop,4 and Leonard W. Poon5 1 Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625, USA 2 Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA 3 School of Family Studies and Human Services, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA 4 Human Development and Family Science Department, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA 5 Institute of Gerontology, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA Correspondence should be addressed to G. Kevin Randall, krandall@bradley.edu Received 10 February 2011; Accepted 26 April 2011 Academic Editor: Bo A. Hagberg Copyright © 2011 G. Kevin Randall et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. We investigated the inﬂuence of social relations on health outcomes in very late life by examining the support-eﬃcacy convoy model among older adults who resided in three diﬀerent residential environments (centenarians in private homes, n = 126; centenarians in assisted living facilities, n = 55 ; centenarians in nursing homes, n = 105). For each group, path analytic models were employed to test our hypotheses; analyses controlled for sex, mental status, education, perceived economic suﬃciency, and activities of daily living. The hypothesized relationships among the models’ variables were unique to each of the three groups; three diﬀerent models ﬁt the data depending upon residential environment. The direct and indirect eﬀects of social relations assessments were positive for the mental and physical health of very old adults, suggesting that participants welcomed the support. However, residential status moderated the associations between the assessments of social relations, self-eﬃcacy, and both outcomes, physical and mental health. 1. Introduction For older adults, the important relationship between social resources and physical and mental health outcomes is well established [1–5]. However, as the proportion of oldest- old adults in the USA increases, particularly centenarians, and more research attention is given to their study [6, 7], theoretically driven investigations of resources necessary for adaptation to changes associated with advanced age are required [8, 9]. Levitt [10] reviewed work focusing on social development across the life span and recommended the social convoy model as a general or unifying model. In addition, Seeman and Crimmins [11] conducted a review focusing on the eﬀects of the social environment on health and aging from the perspective of both epidemiology and demography. Based on their extensive literature review, including the early work of Antonucci and Jackson [12], they posited a biopsychosocial model of health and aging that included the inﬂuence of structural and functional assessments of social relationships on physical and mental health outcomes through psychological characteristics such as self-eﬃcacy. Recently, Antonucci et al. outlined suggested modiﬁca- tions of the original convoy model of social support based on two decades of empirical and theoretical studies (see Figure 1; [13]). Their social support-eﬃcacy model posits a speciﬁc mediator, self-eﬃcacy, through which social relations inﬂuence health outcomes. In addition, Antonucci et al., as well as Seeman and Crimmins [11], emphasized that situ- ational or contextual experiences are considered important inﬂuences on the association among social relations, self- eﬃcacy, and health outcomes for older adults [13].