Ana F Abraído-Lanza1, Tracey A Revenson. 1. Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Services, Columbia University, 722 West 168 Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10032, USA. aabraido@columbia.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent to which arthritis intruded upon 4 social roles (spouse, homemaker, parent, worker). In accordance with propositions set forth by social identity theory and the identity-relevant stress hypothesis, we hypothesized that 1) illness intrusion would predict psychological well-being and 2) role importance would moderate the relationship between illness intrusion and psychological adjustment, such that intrusion into highly valued roles would be the most psychologically distressing. METHODS: Participants were recruited from the practices of rheumatologists affiliated with a major urban hospital. A total of 113 individuals (73% women) with diagnosed rheumatic disease completed a mailed questionnaire. RESULTS: For all 4 roles, illness intrusion was related to decreased psychological well-being. In the worker and parent roles, the effects of illness intrusion on adjustment were moderated by whether respondents valued these particular roles. For example, psychological well-being was lowest among those individuals whose illness intruded greatly upon work and who highly valued their worker role identity. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the advantages of assessing both domain-specific illness intrusion and role importance in predicting psychological well-being among persons with rheumatic diseases. Importantly, results also demonstrate the utility of applying a social identity framework in understanding adjustment processes among persons with chronic illness.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent to which arthritis intruded upon 4 social roles (spouse, homemaker, parent, worker). In accordance with propositions set forth by social identity theory and the identity-relevant stress hypothesis, we hypothesized that 1) illness intrusion would predict psychological well-being and 2) role importance would moderate the relationship between illness intrusion and psychological adjustment, such that intrusion into highly valued roles would be the most psychologically distressing. METHODS:Participants were recruited from the practices of rheumatologists affiliated with a major urban hospital. A total of 113 individuals (73% women) with diagnosed rheumatic disease completed a mailed questionnaire. RESULTS: For all 4 roles, illness intrusion was related to decreased psychological well-being. In the worker and parent roles, the effects of illness intrusion on adjustment were moderated by whether respondents valued these particular roles. For example, psychological well-being was lowest among those individuals whose illness intruded greatly upon work and who highly valued their worker role identity. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the advantages of assessing both domain-specific illness intrusion and role importance in predicting psychological well-being among persons with rheumatic diseases. Importantly, results also demonstrate the utility of applying a social identity framework in understanding adjustment processes among persons with chronic illness.
Authors: Michael R Backhouse; Karen A Vinall-Collier; Anthony C Redmond; Philip S Helliwell; Anne-Maree Keenan Journal: J Foot Ankle Res Date: 2016-07-08 Impact factor: 2.303