Social support and its relation to mental well-being moderated by age and gender

Abstract

Introduction: With the mental healthcare sector being under pressure and the emergence of an extended waiting list for those seeking help, this study has examined the role of experienced social support on one’s mental well-being. Theory: Hypotheses were derived from the Buffer theory and other more recent scientific literature. Three hypotheses were derived, with the first expecting that higher levels of social support will result in higher levels of one’s mental well-being. Hypothesis two and three focused on the moderation effect of age and gender. Methods: The study consist of national data (n = 2775). To filter out possible confounds, level of education and level of psychical impairment were added to the multiple regression analyses. Results: Experienced social support has a significant positive effect on the level of mental well-being when controlling for the factors of age, gender, level of physical impairment and level of educational degree. No significant interaction effects were founds, meaning that there is no support found for moderating effects of age or gender. Discussion: This study has shown that those experiencing high levels of social support from their informal network (family or friends) are better off when it comes to mental well-being. Receiving support social from others could thereby encounter the growing waiting lists in mental healthcare. Future research is advised to include different forms of social support in their analysis to see whether there are differences in which forms of support people use or experience.