Giving and taking--differential effects of providing, receiving and anticipating emotional support on quality of life in adults with multiple illnesses.
Multimorbidity challenges quality of life (QoL) in old age. Anticipating and providing social support have been shown to promote QoL whereas receiving support often had detrimental effects. Little is known about which psychological processes explain these effects. This study examines the effects of receiving, anticipating and providing emotional support on QoL, with control beliefs and self-esteem as simultaneous mediators in an elderly multimorbid sample (N = 1415). Anticipating and providing support positively predicted QoL, mediated through self-esteem and control beliefs. Received support negatively predicted QoL, without mediation. Self-esteem and control beliefs can help to explain the relation between QoL and support.
Warner
Lisa M
LM
German Centre of Gerontology & Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. lisa.warner@fu-berlin.de
Schüz
Benjamin
B
Wurm
Susanne
S
Ziegelmann
Jochen P
JP
Tesch-Römer
Clemens
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000533:Altruism; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D012944:Social Support