Influence of social support gap during daily stress on daily affect of older adults

ObjectivesWe investigated the interactive effects of social support gap (SSGap) and daily event stress on daily affect among older adults. We hypothesized that SSGap would be associated with decreased daily positive affect (PA) and increased daily negative affect (NA). We also hypothesized that there would be significant interactive effects of daily SSGap and daily event stress on daily affect.MethodsTo test these hypotheses, we conducted a daily diary study with 145 older adults ages 65–89 (M = 73.5, SD = 6.0). Participants completed seven daily surveys assessing the stress and emotional support they received and needed each day, in addition to positive and NAs.ResultsAs hypothesized, there were significant within-person relationships between daily SSGap (i.e., received less support than needed) and affect. That is, on days when participants reported larger daily SSGaps than usual, they reported higher levels of NA and lower levels of PA. Additionally, there was a significant interactive effect of SSGap and daily event stress on daily NA. Specifically, participants exhibited higher levels of NA following daily event stress on days reporting large SSGaps than on days reporting small SSGaps.DiscussionThese findings advance the current understanding of the stress-buffering effects of social support and highlight the importance of considering the gap between received and needed social support when considering the impact of social support on well-being among older adults when experiencing stress.