Psychological Distress Variables Research Articles

Stress, Social Support, and Psychological Distress of Family Caregivers of the Elderly

The effects of stress and social support and their interaction with the psychological well-being of 87 family caregivers of impaired elderly were examined. Perceived stress and satisfaction with support accounted for 32% to 36% of the variance in psychological distress or depression, p less than .001; however, when characteristics of the caregiver situation were included in the models, the effects of perceived stress were found to be spurious. The revised models accounted for 44% to 48% of the variance in psychological distress or depression, p less than .000, and included years of caregiving and mental impairment of the elder instead of perceived stress. Although there were no buffering effects for social support, main effects accounted for 19% to 22% of the variance in psychological distress or depression. The findings indicate that caregivers who are caring for a mentally impaired elder, who have been providing care for an extended time, and who have low social support are at high risk for psychological distress or depression.

Alternative conceptions of class and status and symptoms of psychological distress.

One of the most widely reported generalizations in medical sociology and psychiatric epidemiology links social class with mental illness and psychological distress. Using national survey data, this paper compares the ability of measures of social status and class that reflect functionalist, conflict, and Marxist approaches to explain variation in a 26-item scale of symptoms and psychological distress. The measures are found to be somewhat independent of one another. Although the functionalist conceptualization of status is used in almost all research in this area, the authors' findings indicate that Marxist and conflict conceptualizations are equally useful in explaining the variability in psychological distress. These findings should imply greater attention to theoretical perspectives such as Marxism and conflict theory by social epidemiologists and medical sociologists than has been current practice. Of equal importance, it also was found that no measure, including the functionalist measure of occupational prestige, explains more than a few percentage points of the variation in the symptoms measure. Possible explanations for this are discussed, including sample characteristics, measurement issues, and the possibility of a dissociation between social class and mental illness in the United States over the past few decades.

Social support, life stress, and psychological adjustment: a test of the buffering hypothesis.

Research on the relationship between stressful life events and psychological judgment has been criticized for not attending more fully to the multitude of factors potentially mediating that relationship. The present study assesses the influence of one such factor, social support, on that relationship. A group of 320 community residents completed questionnaires including two measures of support, two psychological distress scales, and a stressful life events scale. The hypothesis that social support mediates or serves as a buffer between life events and psychological distress was tested for each of the two support measures in combination with the life events measure in predicting each of the two psychological distress variables. All four of the resulting hypotheses were supported, although the amount of variance accounted for was much greater when the support measure used tapped quality of support rather than quantity of supportive relationships.