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Elizabeth M. Bertera, PhD, National Catholic School of Social Service, Catholic University of America, Shahan Hall, Washington, DC 20064, 301 603-1467, ebertera@aol.com
This study examines social support, social negativity, and anxiety and mood disorders in a random sample of 4688 adults ages 21-54 from the National Comorbidity Survey(1990-92). Perceived positive social support and social negativity with spouses, relatives and friends were operationalized by six indexes, each with six items. An anxiety disorder index included 4 items and a mood disorder index included 3. Social negativity with spouses, relatives, and friends had a strong positive association with the number of anxiety and mood disorders episodes. One surprising finding was that positive support was not as strongly associated with the number of anxiety and mood disorder episodes as social negativity. Neither positive support from spouses nor from friends was associated with a lower number of episodes of either anxiety or mood disorders. Only positive support from relatives was associated with a lower number of episodes of both anxiety and mood disorders. These results may be due to variation by source in the link between support and negativity. Given that much previous research has focused on the role of positive social support, these findings demonstrate the significant impact that negative social exchanges can have on mental health.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Adult Health, Co-morbid
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Handout (.PPT format, 597.0 kb)