Social role identity, social support, competence and psychological well-being among Hispanic women with arthritis.
Item
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Title
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Social role identity, social support, competence and psychological well-being among Hispanic women with arthritis.
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Identifier
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AAI9510680
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identifier
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9510680
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Creator
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Lanza, Ana F. Abraido.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Tracey A. Revenson
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Date
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1994
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social | Health Sciences, Mental Health | Psychology, Personality | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies
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Abstract
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Numerous studies document the beneficial effects of social support in promoting mental health and adjustment among individuals facing chronic illnesses. Recent evidence, however, suggests that social support may sometimes have deleterious effects on psychological well-being. Unfortunately, these research efforts have largely ignored Hispanic populations. A theoretically-grounded conceptual model that is both general to chronic illnesses and relevant to Hispanic women is proposed. Specifically, social role identity is proposed as a critical moderator of the relationship between social support and psychological well-being. The model is based on the following propositions: (1) people often derive satisfaction, self-worth and self-esteem from social roles they value; (2) individuals need to feel competent in performing valued roles; and (3) illness often intrudes upon performance of these roles. Social support may have detrimental effects on psychological well-being by making individuals feel more incompetent in performing valued roles and undermining self-esteem. Therefore, social support intended to help individuals feel better may actually make individuals feel worse.;The sample consisted of 109 predominantly low-income Hispanic women with arthritis, more than half of whom had rheumatoid arthritis. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected via a structured interview, the majority of which were conducted in Spanish. Six roles were studied (homemaker, mother, grandmother, wife, worker and friend). All roles were rated as highly important identities. Sex-role non-traditionalism was associated with less importance of the homemaker, mother, and grandmother roles. High levels of illness intrusion were reported, especially in the homemaker role. Identity moderated the relationship between illness intrusion and negative affect, such that negative affect increased as a function of intrusions into valued identities. Little support was found for the hypothesis that homemaker role identity moderates the relationship between housework social support and psychological well-being. Cultural and normative role expectations about who ought to provide support, however, may help explain these null findings. Competence processes (operationalized as self-esteem, illness self-esteem, and self-efficacy) mediated many effects of pain, identity, illness intrusion and emotional support on psychological well-being. Results suggest such processes play an important role in subjective well-being, and highlight the need for more research on self-esteem and self-efficacy in arthritis populations in particular and adaptation to chronic illness in general.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
