TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceived social support attenuates the association between stress and health-related quality of life among adults experiencing homelessness
AU - Jafry, Midhat Z.
AU - Martinez, Jayda
AU - Chen, Tzuan A.
AU - Businelle, Michael S.
AU - Kendzor, Darla E.
AU - Reitzel, Lorraine R.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the TSET Health Promotion Research Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (092-016-0002) (to M.S.B.), with additional support from the University of Houston (to L.R.R.). Work on the manuscript and its revisions was supported by the NIMHD through the University of Houston’s HEALTH Center for Addictions Research and Cancer Prevention (U54MD015946, by which L.R.R., M.S.B. and T.A.C. are supported), and the University of Houston through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (to M.Z.J.) and Provost’s Undergraduate Research Scholarship (to J.M.). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the project supporters.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors.
PY - 2021/10/1
Y1 - 2021/10/1
N2 - Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is defined as a multidimensional subjective assessment of one’s physical and mental health. Homelessness is associated with numerous stressors that can reduce HRQoL. Social support is defined as the availability of individuals, or resources provided by individuals, to cope with stress. Interpersonal social support may be important in buffering HRQoL from the negative implications of stress. Here, we examine this association in a marginalized group known for high rates of physical and mental health comorbidities: adults experiencing home-lessness. Participants (N = 581; 63.7% men; Mage = 43.6 ± 12.2) were recruited from homeless-serving agencies in Oklahoma City. Social support was measured with the 12-item Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL). HRQoL was measured by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey using self-rated health, the number of poor mental and poor physical health days over the preceding 30 days, as well as the number of limited activity days as the result of poor mental and/or physical health. Perceived stress was assessed using the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The potential moderation effect of social support was examined by assessing the interaction term of social support and stress in a series of linear regression analyses, controlling for sex, age, months homeless, race, education, health insurance status, serious mental illness diagnosis, and recruitment agency/site. There was a significant interaction effect of social support and stress on the prediction of days of poor physical health, days of poor mental health, and days of limited activity (p in all cases ≤ 0.05). Results add to a growing literature on the potentially protective benefits of social support for HRQoL, extend them to a large sample of adults experiencing homelessness in the South, and demonstrate the significance of this moderating effect of social support over and above the influence of several prominent sociodemographic and diagnostic variables. Future work should determine if interventions designed to enhance social support can buffer HRQoL from the deleterious effects of stress among this vulnerable population.
AB - Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is defined as a multidimensional subjective assessment of one’s physical and mental health. Homelessness is associated with numerous stressors that can reduce HRQoL. Social support is defined as the availability of individuals, or resources provided by individuals, to cope with stress. Interpersonal social support may be important in buffering HRQoL from the negative implications of stress. Here, we examine this association in a marginalized group known for high rates of physical and mental health comorbidities: adults experiencing home-lessness. Participants (N = 581; 63.7% men; Mage = 43.6 ± 12.2) were recruited from homeless-serving agencies in Oklahoma City. Social support was measured with the 12-item Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL). HRQoL was measured by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey using self-rated health, the number of poor mental and poor physical health days over the preceding 30 days, as well as the number of limited activity days as the result of poor mental and/or physical health. Perceived stress was assessed using the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The potential moderation effect of social support was examined by assessing the interaction term of social support and stress in a series of linear regression analyses, controlling for sex, age, months homeless, race, education, health insurance status, serious mental illness diagnosis, and recruitment agency/site. There was a significant interaction effect of social support and stress on the prediction of days of poor physical health, days of poor mental health, and days of limited activity (p in all cases ≤ 0.05). Results add to a growing literature on the potentially protective benefits of social support for HRQoL, extend them to a large sample of adults experiencing homelessness in the South, and demonstrate the significance of this moderating effect of social support over and above the influence of several prominent sociodemographic and diagnostic variables. Future work should determine if interventions designed to enhance social support can buffer HRQoL from the deleterious effects of stress among this vulnerable population.
KW - Health disparities
KW - Health-related quality of life
KW - Homeless
KW - Perceived stress
KW - Social support
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117044723&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85117044723&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph182010713
DO - 10.3390/ijerph182010713
M3 - Article
C2 - 34682458
AN - SCOPUS:85117044723
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 18
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 20
M1 - 10713
ER -