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The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
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The biobehavioral family model: testing social support as an additional exogenous variable.
Sarah B Woods1, Jacob B Priest, Tara Roush
1Department of Family Sciences, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX.
Family Process
|July 2, 2014
Summary
This study integrates social support into the Biobehavioral Family Model (BBFM), finding that negative marital interactions and family social support influence biobehavioral reactivity, which in turn affects disease activity.
Area of Science:
- Psychology and Health
- Family Studies
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The Biobehavioral Family Model (BBFM) is a biopsychosocial framework examining health.
- It proposes that biobehavioral reactivity (anxiety, depression) mediates the link between family emotional climate and disease activity.
- Previous models did not explicitly include social support as a distinct variable.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the inclusion of social support as a distinct exogenous variable in the BBFM.
- To examine the mediating role of biobehavioral reactivity in the relationship between family factors and disease activity.
- To validate the BBFM with a nationally representative adult sample.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 1,321 married adults from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication.
- Employed confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling.
- Assessed demographics, marital functioning, social support, biobehavioral reactivity, chronic conditions, and medications.
Main Results:
- Confirmatory factor analyses supported distinct measures for negative marital interactions, social support (friends, relatives), and biobehavioral reactivity.
- Structural equation modeling showed a good fit to the hypothesized BBFM.
- Negative marital interactions positively predicted biobehavioral reactivity; relatives' social support inversely predicted it. Biobehavioral reactivity predicted disease activity.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the BBFM's applicability to adult health.
- Social support from family is a significant predictor within the BBFM.
- The study highlights the importance of social support in the biopsychosocial model of health.
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