The Relationship Between Social Support, Lifestyle Behaviours, Coping and Health in the Elderly

Abstract

Promotion of health in the elderly has become a priority as both the number and proportion of older persons in our population escalates. Social support is a critical variable. There is diversity in definitions of social support in the literature (Cobb, 1976; House, 1981; Weiss, 1974). Weiss (1974) proposed that only social relationships could provide certain requirements for well-being in humans. He identified the following six categories of relational provisions or components of social support: attachment; social integration including a sense of companionship; opportunity for nurturance or being responsible for another; reassurance of worth; a sense of reliable alliance particularly from family; and the provision of guidance. Like Weiss (1974), many authors have emphasized the multidimensional nature of social support and have recommended its measurement in this context (Barrera, 1981; Starker, 1986). There are two principal process models that describe the relationship between social support and health, a main or direct-effect model and an indirect-effect or buffering model. In the buffering model, social support protects the individual from the potentially harmful effects of life stress (Cobb, 1976). In the direct-effect model, social support exerts a positive influence on health that is independent of the experience of stress. Some authors have suggested that there is evidence that both of these process models operate in the social support-health interaction (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Turner, 1981). They suggest that main and indirect effects of social support are exerted upon both physical and psychological health.