Satisfaction with Social Support Received from Social Relationships in Cases of Chronic Pain: The Influence of Personal Network Characteristics in Terms of Structure, Composition and Functional Content.

Rosario Fernández-Peña,José Luis Molina,Oliver Valero

doi:10.3390/ijerph17082706

Abstract

The worldwide burden of chronic illnesses, constitutes a major public health concern and a serious challenge for health systems. In addition to the strategies of self-management support developed by nursing and health organizations, an individual’s personal network represents a major resource of social support in the long-term. Adopting a cross-sectional design based on personal network analysis methods, the main aim of this study is to explore the relationship between satisfaction with the social support received by individuals suffering chronic pain and the structure, composition, and functional content in social support of their personal networks. We collected personal and support network data from 30 people with chronic pain (20 person’s contacts (alters) for each individual (ego), 600 relationships in total). Additionally, we examined the level of satisfaction with social support in each of the 600 relationships. Bivariate and multivariate tests were performed to analyze the satisfaction with the social support received. Using cluster analysis, we established a typology of the 600 relationships under study. Results showed that higher satisfaction was associated with a balance between degree centrality and betweenness (i.e., measures of network cohesion and network modularity, respectively). Finally, new lines of research are proposed in order to broaden our understanding of this subject.

Highlights

Chronic illness constitutes a critical public health challenge that affects both social and economic development worldwide
The descriptive results of this larger study were presented using a mixed approach [42], showing that different types of personal networks were associated with self-reported quality of life, which scored below the populational mean in all dimensions considered
This study aimed to examine the structure, composition, and functional content of social support in the context of personal networks, in relation to satisfaction from the ego perspective

Summary

Introduction

Chronic illness constitutes a critical public health challenge that affects both social and economic development worldwide. Chronic illness represents a major challenge for health services. People with several illnesses or chronic conditions live longer than in the past [2]. Faced with this scenario, health services are undergoing a reorganizational shift from a model centered on illness and treatment, to one centered on the individual and their particular chronic conditions. Health services are undergoing a reorganizational shift from a model centered on illness and treatment, to one centered on the individual and their particular chronic conditions

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Discussion

Conclusion