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The first paper examines whether social support from family and negative interactions with family are associated with allostatic load and racial and ethnic differences in these associations using data from the Health and Retirement Study. The findings indicate that a higher level of negative family interactions was associated with a higher allostatic load score, and a higher level of family support was associated with a lower allostatic load score. Negative family interactions were associated with a higher allostatic load score among white adults, but this association was non-significant among Black adults.
The second paper investigates the longitudinal effects of falls among community-dwelling older people living with dementia on care partners who co-reside with the older person and care partners who reside separately from the older person. The analyses were based on data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study and the National Study of Caregiving. The results indicate that continued high fall risk is associated with greater care-related physical, financial, and emotional difficulties for care partners. Decreased fall risk was associated with greater emotional, physical, and financial difficulties. However, some of these associations varied by living arrangement.
The third paper reports the findings for a study on the effects of care coordinators on older adults' healthcare satisfaction and perceptions of care quality using data from the Health and Retirement Study. This analysis indicated that participants who had both professional and family care coordinators and participants who had only family care coordinators reported lower perceptions of care quality. Among participants who have a professional care coordinator, greater care coordinator involvement is positively associated with care quality and satisfaction.
The fourth paper examines the theories of relational health used in interpersonal violence research and identifies the types of relational protective factors measured/conceptualized within these theories using a scoping review methodology. The results indicate that the most frequently observed theories in the literature were attachment theory, relational-cultural theory, and object-relations theory. Key relational factors that protected against interpersonal violence in the literature included relationship satisfaction, relationship quality, previous positive relational experiences, attachment style, and social support.
Taken together, these papers will provide important insights into social relational factors that influence health and well-being. As modifiable social factors, social relationships have broad translational importance in promoting health equity. The findings will be discussed with attention to important socio-cultural and contextual factors and highlight implications for social work practice and research.