HEART AND KIDNEY PATIENTS

CORRELATIONAL PATTERNS OF SOCIAL SUPPORT WITH COPING STRATEGIES AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING

Abstract

The prevalence of chronic diseases is exceptionally high (37.9%) among the
adult population of Pakistan. Social support could play a significant role in shaping the coping
strategies and determining the subjective wellbeing of chronically ill patients. Objectives:
This research documents the correlation patterns of social support with coping strategies
and subjective well-being among Heart and Kidney Patients. Methods: The primary data was
collected from four major hospitals in Lahore by using purposive sampling method. For the
collection of quantitative data, a hospital-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted with
275 admitted patients (131-heart and 144-kidney) 184 male and 91 female (20 to 110 years
of age) by using a structured interview schedule. Pearson Product-moment Correlation and
Multiple Regression Analysis were performed on the data set. Results: Strongest correlation
was found between emotional and informational social support (r=.853). Instrumental social
support also indicates strong relationship with the emotional social support (r=.838). There
was a moderate positive correlation (r=.339) between behavioral coping, emotional social
support and informational social support (r=.424). Data show a negative relationship between
physical coping and subjective well-being (r=.381). Results of the study suggest that emotional
(β=.230) and informational (β=.217) social support affect the patients’ ability to actively engage
in behavioral and physical coping for the subjective well-being; however, physical coping
indicated negative effects (β=-.225) on the subjective feelings of well-being. Conclusions: A
strong correlations among four types of social support exists and behavioral coping has the
strongest impact on the subjective well-being (β=.629).