Open AccessTime-varying social support and time to death in the cardiovascular health study.
Author(s) -
Janet L. MacNeil Vroomen,
Richard Schulz,
Margaret Doyle,
Terrence E. Murphy,
Diane G. Ives,
Joan K. Monin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
health psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.548
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1930-7810
pISSN - 0278-6133
DOI - 10.1037/hea0000660
Subject(s) - social support , social connectedness , health and retirement study , psychology , marital status , baseline (sea) , gerontology , longitudinal study , proportional hazards model , medicine , demography , clinical psychology , social psychology , population , oceanography , surgery , pathology , sociology , geology , environmental health
There is a consensus that social connectedness is integral for a long, healthy life. However, studies of social support and survival have primarily relied on baseline social support measures, potentially missing the effects of fluctuations of perceived support over time. This is especially important for older adults who experience increased changes in disability. This study examined whether among older adults time-varying perceived social support was associated with time to death (main effect model of support) and whether time-varying disability was a modifier (stress-buffering model of support). Gender and marital status were also examined as modifiers.