| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
| Responsiveness of the Duke Social Support sub-scales in older women | | Author(s) | Nancy A Pachana, Nadine Smith, Melanie Watson |
| Journal title | Age and Ageing, vol 37, no 6, November 2008 |
| Pages | pp 666-672 |
| Source | http://www.ageing.oupjournals.org |
| Keywords | Older women ; Over 70s ; Informal care ; Social contacts ; Health [elderly] ; Screening ; Evaluation ; Australia. |
| Annotation | An abbreviated form of the Duke Social Support Index (DSSI), as used in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, was examined with respect to factors that might be expected to affect social support for older women over time. In this large cohort study, two sub-scales of the DSSI, one describing the size and structure of the social network (4 items) and the other perceiving satisfaction with social support (6 items), were analysed in relation to outcome and explanatory variables. Over a 3-year period, the network score increased among women whose life circumstances meant they were likely to receive more support (e.g. recent widowhood). Likewise, those women at risk of becoming more socially isolated (e.g. those with sensory loss) became less satisfied with their social support. Changes in both measures were tempered by women's mental health and optimism. Although the sub-scales of the DSSI may not fully reflect the complexity of social support paradigms, they are responsive to changes in the lives of older women and can be useful in community-based epidemiological study. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-081217207 A |
| Classmark | BD: BBK: P6: TOA: CC: 3V: 4C: 7YA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|