The Mediating Role of Anger and Anxiety in the Association of Social Support with Mobility Among Middle-Age and Older Adults with Knee Osteoarthritis

Erin R. Harrell (), Patricia A. Parmelee and Dylan M. Smith
Additional contact information
Erin R. Harrell: Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USA
Patricia A. Parmelee: Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USA
Dylan M. Smith: Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 2, 1-12

Abstract: Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the leading causes of chronic disability in older adults, often causing significant impairment of mobility. OA symptoms have been linked to mental functioning, including depression, anxiety, and negative affect. Method: To examine whether anger and anxiety mediate the relationship between social support and mobility among older adults with knee osteoarthritis, data from the Everyday Quality of Life in Older Blacks and Whites with Osteoarthritis (EQUAL) study ( N = 336) were analyzed using Hayes’ PROCESS model in SPSS to test the direct effect of social support on mobility as well as mediation by anxiety and anger. Results: While univariate models for both anxiety and anger were significant, only anxiety mediated the relationship between social support and mobility. Conclusion: Although limited by their cross-sectional nature, the findings suggest that at least part of the association of social support with mobility may be explained by the role of support in alleviating anxiety.

Keywords: osteoarthritis (OA); anger; anxiety; mobility limitation; social support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/283/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/283/ (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:2:p:283-:d:1591420

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 ().