Determinants of Perceived Social Support in Individuals with Serious mental Illness: A Secondary Analysis

Abstract

Social support appears to provide protective effects for those with serious mental illness (SMI), but these effects may be attenuated by factors that hinder positive perceptions of support. Improved understanding of social support and its determinants may provide avenues to promote recovery and improve functioning. The present study sought to further investigate relationships among negative symptoms, social cognition, social anxiety, and perceived social support in a population of outpatient community mental health participants with SMI. Sixty participants were included in this secondary analysis from data collected as part of a psychosocial rehabilitation treatment study at a community mental health center from 2016-2018. Participants were predominantly male (n = 47), between the ages of 21 and 74 years (M = 42.98, SD = 13.02). In terms of self-reported race/ethnicity, 50% identified as African American, 25% White, 8% Asian or Pacific Islander, 5% Hispanic, and 12% multi-racial/other. Primary diagnoses included schizophrenia (n = 41), schizoaffective disorder (n = 12), bipolar disorder (n = 2), PTSD (n = 3), and other (n = 2). Each participant completed a battery of measures including: the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL), measuring perceived social support; the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, Managing Emotions subscale (MSCEIT-ME), measuring social cognition; the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), measuring social anxiety; and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) to assess negative symptoms. Bivariate Pearson correlations revealed statistically significant associations between social cognition and total perceived social support (p < .05) and appraisal support subscale (p < .01), between negative symptoms and appraisal support subscale (p < .05), and between social anxiety and self-esteem support subscale (p < .05). A multiple linear regression was run to predict total perceived social support from negative symptoms, social cognition, and social anxiety. The overall model was significant (p < .05), however, social cognition was the only significant predictor in the model (p < .05). A second model was estimated to examine the hypothesized double-moderation effects of social cognition and social anxiety on the relationship between total perceived social support and negative symptoms— neither the overall model, nor the interaction terms were significant. Overall findings suggest a correlative relationship between social cognition and perceived social support. Conclusions, limitations, and future directions are discussed.