135. Social Support Partially Mediates The Relationship Between Stress Management And Self-Rated Health In Low-Income Adolescents

Abstract

Effective stress management and strong social support are important to both the emotional wellbeing and physical health of adolescents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential mediating effect of social support on the relationship between stress management and self-rated health among low-income adolescents. This was a cross-sectional secondary analysis of IRB approved survey data collected from 205 adolescents ages 14-19 years old. Adolescents completed the Adolescent Lifestyle Questionnaire, which contained a stress management subscale and a social support subscale, along with the Personal Assessment of General Health, which measured self-reported health. Mediation was tested using linear regression analysis and SPSS 24 software. Our findings indicate social support partial mediated the relationship between stress management and self-reported health. Regression analyses indicated that stress management was associated with self-reported health (N = 205; b = .223; p <0.01) and social support (b = .519; p <0.01), meeting the first two criteria for mediation. Social support was significantly related to self-reported health (b = .228; p < 0.01), meeting the third criteria. Finally, when stress management and social support were entered into the same model predicting self-reported health, the relationship between stress management and self-reported health was reduced (b = .147; p = .06) indicating that social support was a mechanism of action in the relationship between stress management and self-reported health. Our findings provide evidence that social support serves as a mechanism of action in the relationship between stress management and self-reported health in low-income adolescents. This study adds to the literature social support as a mechanism of action between emotional wellbeing strategies and subjective physical health. Study findings reinforce the need for policies encouraging social support for adolescents, as well as confirming the ongoing need for adolescent healthcare providers to assess social support as part of biopsychosocial approach to adolescent health. Future research should evaluate various social support structures, such as family social support and peer social support, as a mechanism between stress management and self-rated health to expand our understanding of these relationships.