Perceived social support buffers negative health outcomes

Abstract

Health outcomes of women victims of domestic violence were studied on 300 women in Georgia. The proposed model is based on the buffering hypothesis: experience of domestic violence is moderated by perceived social support and these two variables together affect health outcomes. We studied different forms of perceived social support - peer and family support, and organizational support - measured by Sarason et al. social support questionnaire. Various forms of domestic violence were studied by Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory, Tolman. The dependent variables were depression and anxiety respectively measured by Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Radloff, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. We did not find any difference among the effects of various forms of violence on health outcomes. Multiple regression showed that social support together with experiencing violence explains variance in dependent variables - with 32% for depression, and 25% - for anxiety. As expected, perceived social support plays a role of a moderator between negative, stressful experiences and health outcomes.