Interactive effects of social support and social conflict on medication adherence in multimorbid older adults

Lisa M. Warner, Benjamin Schüz, Leona Aiken, Jochen P. Ziegelmann, Susanne Wurm, Clemens Tesch-Römer and Ralf Schwarzer

Social Science & Medicine, 2013, vol. 87, issue C, 23-30

Abstract: With increasing age and multimorbidity, medication regimens become demanding, potentially resulting in suboptimal adherence. Social support has been discussed as a predictor of adherence, but previous findings are inconsistent. The study examines general social support, medication-specific social support, and social conflict as predictors of adherence at two points in time (6 months apart) to test the mobilization and social conflict hypotheses. A total of 309 community-dwelling multimorbid adults (65–85 years, mean age 73.27, 41.7% women; most frequent illnesses: hypertension, osteoarthritis and hyperlipidemia) were recruited from the population-representative German Ageing Survey. Only medication-specific support correlated with adherence. Controlling for baseline adherence, demographics, physical fitness, medication regimen, and attitude, Time 1 medication-specific support negatively predicted Time 2 adherence, and vice versa. The negative relation between earlier medication-specific support and later adherence was not due to mobilization (low adherence mobilizing support from others, which over time would support adherence). Social conflict moderated the medication-specific support to adherence relationship: the relationship became more negative, the more social conflict participants reported. Presence of social conflict should be considered when received social support is studied, because well-intended help might have the opposite effect, when it coincides with social conflict.

Keywords: Germany; Medication adherence; Multimorbidity; Medication-specific social support; Received social support; Social conflict (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:87:y:2013:i:c:p:23-30

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.03.012

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