EFFECTS OF SOCIAL SUPPORT UPON CHRONICITY-RELATED ROLE STRESS, ROLE STRAIN, AND HEALTH STATUS.
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 223
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study used a nonexperimental design to test a recursive prospective model for direct and indirect effects of perceived social support on chronicity-related role stress and strain and health status from a role theory perspective. LaRocco, House, and French (1980, p. 203) proposed a theoretical model of social support that was modified by the investigator for this study. The modified model postulated that social support had direct effects which reduced chronicity-related role stress (stress) and chronicity-related role strain (strain), and improved the role occupant's health status. Indirect effects of social support on strain (through stress) and of social support and stress on health status were also postulated. The model tested four health status (health) outcomes: positive and negative affect, a physical rating and activities of daily living (ADL).

A nonrandom sample of 83 congestive heart failure (CHF) patients living in a metropolitan community and aged 55-79 was enrolled. Social support, stress, and strain explained the most variance for the negative affect health outcome (R$\sp 2$ =.35, p $\leq$.005); in contrast, the theoretical model predicted the least variance for positive affect (R$\sp 2$ =.11, p $\leq$.005). Social support and stress predicted 25% of the variance in physical rating (p $\leq$.001) while stress predicted 30% of the variance in ADL rating (p $\leq$.001). Although both social support and stress were expected to influence strain, the hypothesized relationships only held for the outcome of negative affect where the link between stress and strain predicted 20% of the variance for strain (p $\leq$.001). There were no direct effects between social support, stress, and strain for any of the four health outcomes. These findings are important because they substantiate other research that had indicated social support differentially affects the physical and psychological health. Also, this study extends those findings to include CHF patients. As postulated, stress affected both physical and psychological health. In this study CHF patients with more social support generally reported better physical status and a reduced negative affect. CHF patients who recently experienced stress generally reported increased anxiety, a higher negative affect, and a reduced ability to perform ADLs.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-06, Section: B, page: 1643.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1987.

School code: 0034.