Social support sources and psychological well-being in older women with heart disease.

A test of the compensatory hierarchical model of social support sources was conducted in a sample of 80 older women with heart disease. Relationships of support sources to measures of psychological well-being also were investigated. Emotional and tangible support sources fit the model with the exception that unmarried women without children named friends more often than extended family as emotional support sources. Receipt of emotional support from nonfamily members rather than from sources including family members was related to lower positive affect. Similarly, receipt of tangible support from nonfamily members rather than from sources including family members was related to less satisfaction with life. Factors that disrupt the family relationships of older women with illness are worthy of further exploration.