Who helps and how? Examining the relationship between social support and the quality of life of adolescents with chronic illness
Abstract
Introduction. Approximately 15% of adolescents in the United States suffer from one
or more chronic conditions. And 50% of adolescents with chronic illness do not completely
adhere to their treatment regimens, and many report decreased emotional wellbeing.
While social support has been widely investigated as a factor related to improved
quality of life (QoL) in adults with chronic illness, it is less understood in relation
to the adolescent chronic illness population. Therefore, the purpose of this study
was to understand how 4 forms of social support – nondirective emotional, nondirective
instrumental, directive emotional, and directive instrumental – affect the physical,
social emotional, and school QoL of adolescents with chronic illness. It was hypothesized
that (1) nondirective emotional support from both parents and friends will have a
positive relationship with physical, social, emotional, and school QoL; (2) adolescents
will perceive greater nondirective and directive instrumental support from parents
than from friends, and greater nondirective and directive emotional support from friends
than from parents; (3) parental support will be positively associated with physical
QoL; and (4) peer support will be positively associated with psychosocial (i.e. social,
emotional, and school) QoL. Methods. Data used in this study came from Robinson et
al. (2010), The Development of Character for Youth With Chronic Illness Study which
utilized a 30-minute web-based questionnaire that was completed by 171 adolescent
participants of Victory Junction Gang Camp, a camp for children and adolescents with
chronic conditions. In the Robinson et al. (2010) study, quality of life was assessed
with the PedsQL™ and social support was assessed with the Social Support for Adolescents
Scale. Results. There were no statistically significant relationships between type
of social support from friends and quality of life. The only statistically significant
finding was a positive relationship between nondirective emotional support from parents
and emotional quality of life, when controlling for the covariates of age, race, gender,
and physical disability. Conclusions. Implications for research and clinical practice
are discussed.
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
Psychology and NeurosciencePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11834Citation
Schilstra, Clarissa (2016). Who helps and how? Examining the relationship between social support and the quality
of life of adolescents with chronic illness. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11834.Collections
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