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Correlates of Emotional Support and Negative Interaction Among Older Black Americans

¹ School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle.
² School of Social Work
³ School of Public Health
⁴ Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Address correspondence to Dr. Karen D. Lincoln, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 4101 15th Avenue NE, Campus Mail Box 354900, Seattle, WA 98105-6299. E-mail: [email protected]

Objectives. The study investigates the social and demographic, personality and social contact correlates of emotional support and negative interaction among older Black Americans.

Methods. The present analyses are based on the responses of 519 older African American respondents (55–96 years old) from the Americans' Changing Lives Survey. Structural equation modeling (e.g., LISREL) was used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of sociodemographic variables (i.e., age, gender, education, income, marital status, and presence of children), social contact factors (i.e., frequency of face-to-face and telephone contact), and personality (i.e., extraversion and neuroticism) on emotional support and negative interaction with relatives and friends.

Results. Gender, marital status, and extraversion were significantly associated with emotional support. Age, education, marital status, having a child, and neuroticism were identified as correlates of negative interaction.

Discussion. The majority of older Black adults in this sample participated in emotionally supportive relations with relatives and friends, whereas negative social interactions were reported with less frequency. The distinctive group of predictors explaining emotional support and negative interaction suggests that they are different social occurrences. This analysis particularly underscores the role of personality factors in these processes.