RELATIONSHIP OF ETHNICITY, SOCIAL SUPPORT, AND COPING STRATEGIES AMONG THREE SUBGROUPS OF BLACK ELDERLY (NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, BARBADOS, HAITI, SOUTH).
Contributors: New York University.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 138
Subjects: Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Black Studies.; Gerontology.
Description: This dissertation addresses the question of how Black elderly cope with problems associated with aging. Ths sample consisted of 156 Black elderly males and females who were non-institutionalized volunteers and 65 years old and over. The participants were three subgroups of migrants to New Jersey and New York from Barbados, Haiti, and the Southern United States.

The three following hypotheses were tested for subgroup: (1) ethnicity would be related to the use of coping strategies independent of social support, (2) social support would be related to the use of coping strategies independent of ethnicity, and (3) ethnicity and social support combined would account for greater variance in the use of coping strategies than when the two variables were taken separately. The three following research questions were also posed: (1) Will there be differences in ethnicity among Black elderly born in Barbados, Haiti, and the Southern United States due to place of origin? (2) Will there be differences in social support among Black elderly born in Barbados, Haiti, and the Southern United States due to place of origin? (3) Will there be differences in the use of coping strategies among Black elderly born Barbados, Haiti, and the Southern United States due to place of origin?.

Participants completed the Ethnic Identification Scale, the Social Relationship Scale, the Jaloweic Coping Scale, and the Demographic Data Form. Data for testing hypotheses used multiple regression analysis with an acceptance at.05 level of significance. The one hypothesis that was supported indicated that Haitians use social support to cope with problems and challenges associated with aging. Data from the analysis of variance and Student Newman-Keuls test showed that Haitians and Southern Blacks were similar and different from Barbadians in ethnicity; Barbadians and Southern Blacks used more coping strategies than Haitians, but that each subgroup, however, had a preference for a specific type of coping strategy. Haitians used more emotive than Barbadians and Southern Blacks; Barbadians used the most confrontive coping strategies while Southern Blacks used the most palliative coping ones. There were no differences among subgroups in social support.

Support for the hypotheses might have been hindered by theoretical and methodological drawbacks in the measurement of ethnicity and social support. While differences among the subgroups were attributed to historical factors, these differences may become less distinct as the subgroups become more homogeneous in migration status.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-03, Section: A, page: 0629.

Thesis (PH.D.)--NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, 1987.

School code: 0146.