The relationship of social support to psychological adjustment in end-stage renal disease patients.

The present study examined the social support system of patients suffering from end stage renal disease. Patients reported receiving considerable support from family, friends, and the medical treatment staff. Patients reported receiving considerably less support from voluntary associations (including religion) and leisure activities. This study also tested the proposition that social support lessens the impact of the stress of kidney disease. Multiple regression analysis indicated that social support variables increased the prediction (i.e. beyond the variance explained by demographic variables) of psychological adjustment. The hypothesis derived from crisis theory that social support would be more predictive of psychological adjustments in patients who recently became ill than in patients who had been ill longer was also supported.