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Characteristics of social support in a community‐living sample of older people: The Sydney Older Persons Study
Author(s) -
Edelbrock Dorothy,
Buys Laurie R.,
Waite Louise M.,
Grayson David A.,
Broe G. Anthony,
Creasey Helen
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2001.tb00382.x
Subject(s) - social support , psychology , univariate , gerontology , sample (material) , multivariate analysis , multivariate statistics , bayesian multivariate linear regression , emotional support , regression analysis , medicine , social psychology , statistics , chemistry , mathematics , chromatography
Objectives: Lower levels of social support have been associated with higher mortality, poor health and lower levels of well‐being. The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of social support in a sample of community‐living people over the age of 75 years and secondly to identify sociodemographic variables associated with social support . Method : A sample of 647 community‐dwelling elderly (75 or older) were interviewed using a structured instrument assessing social support . Social support was defined as: instrumental support; emotional support including the presence of a confidant; perceived support (perceived availability and perceived adequacy of support) and finally, social involvement or participation. Chi‐squared tests were used to compare levels of social support between males and females. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted in order to examine the relationship between social support and sociodemographic variables .