The role of social support in the relationship between different coping strategies and the emotional distress in the bereaved elderly

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore does social support (emotional and instrumental) has a moderating effect on the relation between coping strategies (the loss-oriented and restoration-oriented) and emotional distress. In this research participated 64 respondents who experienced a death of a spouse in the last 40 days. They were uniformed in terms of gender, with their age ranging from 65 to 89. The moderators were measured on a one-item scale, while the predictors were measured with a 22item Inventory of Daily Widowed Life (IDWL; Caserta & Lund, 2007). Emotional distress was measured with The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS21, Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). The results indicated the following. When the predictor variable was loss orientation, and the moderator was emotional and instrumental support, significant main and interactive effects on emotional distress were registered. Namely, in the conditions of low loss orientation, the elderly who had higher social support had lower emotional distress than the elderly who had lower social support. However, in the conditions of high loss orientation, individuals achieved equal scores on the emotional distress scale regardless of the level of social support. When the restoration orientation was the predictor, and emotional support was the moderator, both main and interactive effects were registered. Thus, in the conditions of low restoration orientation, the elderly with higher emotional support had a lower score on the emotional distress scale than those with lower support. In the conditions of restoration orientation, regardless of the level of emotional support, the elderly achieved approximately the same values on the scale of emotional distress.