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Vulnerable Populations

Associations Between Physical symptoms, Social Connectedness, and Psychological Wellbeing in Individuals with Chronic Health Conditions

(PS13-A7) Associations Between Physical Symptoms, Social Connectedness, and Psychological Wellbeing in Individuals with Chronic Health Conditions

Sunday, November 19, 2023

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PST

Location: Regency Ballroom, Level 7

Author(s)

MP

Mai Pham

University of Nebraska Lincoln

Co-Author(s)

Rebecca M. Wolfe, M.A.

Advanced Graduate Student
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Denver, Colorado
Brianna L. Speakar, None

Database Manager
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska
TL

Thanh Le, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
University of California Los Angeles
Torrance, California
Will Spaulding, Ph.D.

Professor
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska

Experiencing health stigma (enacted or internalized) as an individual with a chronic health condition (CHC) can lead to adverse social experiences and poorer psychological wellbeing. This study examines the influence of social determinants of health factors (SDOHs; non-medical social needs that influence a person’s health outcomes and wellbeing), such as stigma and social experience, on the quality of life in emerging adults living with CHCs. Historical biomedical models posit that physical factors impact wellbeing most directly, with psychological and social factors contributing secondarily. Students (N = 107) attending a large midwestern university completed a series of self-report measures assessing physical health (diagnosed CHCs, distressing physical health symptoms), social experience (e.g., perceived social support, social connectedness), health-related stigma, and dimensions of psychological wellbeing (e.g., environmental mastery, self-acceptance) via online surveys. This study examined the unique contributions of distressing physical health symptoms, health-related stigma, perceived social support, and social connectedness on psychological wellbeing in a sample of emerging adults with healthcare provider diagnosed severe or chronic health conditions. Two parallel hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted, with the Environmental Mastery and Self-Acceptance subscales of Psychological Wellbeing as the dependent variables in the analyses. In both analyses, Distressing Physical Health Symptoms were entered in the first block, Physical Health Stigma was entered in a second block, and Perceived Social Support and Social Connectedness were entered in a third. In both regression models, Social Connectedness, eclipses the contributions of stigma and social support. Also, for both models, Social Connectedness contributes more than Distressing Physical Health Symptoms. Finally, when Social Support and Social Connectedness were added in the third step of both models, these two variables explained > 27% of unique and additional variance. Results support the biopsychosocial theories on SDOHs, such that in a population with health challenges, psychosocial factors uniquely contribute to variance in psychological wellbeing, specifically to environmental mastery and self-acceptance, after the contribution of distressing symptoms is considered. Our results are inconsistent with the biomedical model assumptions about the primacy of physical vs. psychosocial factors in the wellbeing among people with health challenges, and instead better aligns with biopsychosocial approaches that heavily highlights SDOHs influence a persons' health and wellbeing.