Exploring the Association Between Positive and Negative Social Support and Spiritual Well-Being: Results from the National Survey of American Life

Shaila M. Strayhorn-Carter (), Brook E. Harmon, Latrice C. Pichon and Michelle Y. Martin
Additional contact information
Shaila M. Strayhorn-Carter: School of Health and Applied Human Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Veteran’s Hall 2506K, 601 S. College Rd., Wilmington, NC 28403, USA
Brook E. Harmon: Nutrition and Foods Program, Department of Nutrition and Health Care Management, Appalachian State University, Leon Levine Hall of Health Sciences, Boone, NC 28608, USA
Latrice C. Pichon: Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Memphis, 3825 Desoto Ave., Memphis, TN 38152, USA
Michelle Y. Martin: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 221 Doctors Office Building, Memphis, TN 38163, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 11, 1-11

Abstract: Previous studies have found that support that is uplifting in nature (i.e., positive social support) can have a positive influence on the spiritual well-being of individuals with chronic diseases. However, few studies have explored positive and negative social support’s (i.e., the individual receiving the support feeling unsupported) impact. The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between positive and negative social support and spiritual well-being among individuals of African descent with chronic illnesses. Survey items that focused on positive and negative social support as well as spiritual well-being were obtained from a secondary dataset, the National Survey of American Life. Missing imputation models were adjusted by demographic characteristics (gender, age, income, education, marital status, employment, length of stay in the U.S., insurance, and religious service attendance). Findings from the analysis revealed a positive association between positive social support and spiritual well-being (β: 0.07, SE: 0.01, p < 0.0001). No significant associations were observed between negative social support and spiritual well-being (β: 0.01, SE: 0.01, p = 0.51). Future researchers should continue to explore the impact of social support on the spiritual well-being of individuals of African descent through the implementation of a culturally tailored program designed to reduce chronic diseases within this population.

Keywords: quality of life; chronic illness; social network; African American; Caribbean Black (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/11/1660/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/11/1660/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:11:p:1660-:d:1785307

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().