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Indicator: Social and Emotional Support (2006)


  
  • Social support serves major support functions, including emotional support (e.g., sharing problems or venting emotions), informational support (e.g., advice and guidance), and instrumental support (e.g., providing rides or assisting with housekeeping). 1
  • Adequate social and emotional support is associated with reduced risk of mental illness, physical illness, and mortality. 1
  • This indicator was assessed through the BRFSS question: “How often do you get the social and emotional support you need?” The response options included: “always,” “usually,” “sometimes,” “rarely,” or “never.” It was asked of all 50 states, District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico in 2006.
Reference:
1. Strine TW, Chapman DP, Balluz L, Mokdad AH. Health-related quality of life and health behaviors by social and emotional support: Their relevance to psychiatry and medicine. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2008;43:151-159.

State Data (2006)

Percentage of adults aged 50 years or older who reported that they “rarely” or “never” received the social support they needed.
  Age Group
50+ 50–64 65+
Location Data % CI† Data % CI† Data % CI†
United States 9.8 (9.5–10.1) 8.1 (7.7–8.5) 12.2 (11.8–12.7)
Alabama 8.8 (7.4–10.4) 8.6 (6.7–10.8) 9.1 (7.2–11.5)
Alaska 11.6 (8.7–15.2) 11.6 (8.1–16.3) 11.6 (7.6–17.2)
Arizona 11.4 (9.5–13.7) 8.1 (6.0–11.0) 15.7 (12.5–19.6)
Arkansas 11.3 (10.1–12.6) 9.9 (8.4–11.6) 13.1 (11.3–15.2)
California 11.7 (10.0–13.6) 10.8 (8.7–13.3) 13.0 (10.4–16.2)
Hawaii 17.7 (16.0–19.6) 13.5 (11.3–16.0) 23.7 (20.9–26.7)
Colorado 5.8 (4.9–6.8) 4.7 (3.7–6.0) 7.6 (6.1–9.5)
Connecticut 9.8 (8.8–10.8) 6.7 (5.6–8.1) 13.9 (12.3–15.7)
Delaware 7.0 (5.8–8.4) 5.6 (4.2–7.4) 9.0 (7.1–11.3)
District of Columbia 13.2 (11.3–15.3) 11.2 (8.9–14.0) 15.9 (13.0–19.3)
Florida 10.7 (9.6–11.9) 8.9 (7.5–10.6) 12.6 (11.1–14.3)
Georgia 10.9 (9.6–12.4) 9.4 (7.8–11.4) 13.4 (11.4–15.6)
Idaho 5.5 (4.7–6.5) 4.2 (3.3–5.5) 7.5 (6.0–9.3)
Illinois 9.2 (7.9–10.6) 7.7 (6.1–9.7) 11.3 (9.4–13.4)
Indiana 9.4 (8.3–10.6) 8.8 (7.3–10.5) 10.3 (8.7–12.2)
Iowa 6.6 (5.7–7.7) 4.8 (3.7–6.2) 9.0 (7.5–10.9)
Kansas 7.9 (7.1–8.8) 6.6 (5.6–7.8) 9.5 (8.3–11.0)
Kentucky 8.2 (7.1–9.4) 8.2 (6.7–9.9) 8.1 (6.6–10.0)
Louisiana 11.9 (10.7–13.2) 10.6 (9.1–12.3) 13.9 (12.0–16.0)
Maine 8.7 (7.4–10.1) 7.1 (5.7–8.9) 10.9 (8.8–13.4)
Maryland 10.1 (8.8–11.4) 8.2 (6.6–10.1) 13.0 (11.1–15.1)
Massachusetts 11.1 (10.0–12.2) 7.5 (6.3–8.9) 15.8 (14.1–17.7)
Michigan 8.7 (7.6–9.8) 7.1 (5.8–8.6) 11.0 (9.3–12.9)
Minnesota 4.0 (3.2–5.1) 3.5 (2.4–5.0) 4.8 (3.6–6.4)
Mississippi 9.6 (8.4–10.9) 9.2 (7.6–11.0) 10.2 (8.7–11.9)
Ohio 8.3 (6.8–10.1) 6.7 (4.9–9.1) 10.6 (8.3–13.5)
Missouri 7.9 (6.7–9.2) 5.8 (4.6–7.3) 10.6 (8.6–13.1)
Montana 8.3 (7.3–9.4) 5.8 (4.7–7.0) 12.2 (10.3–14.3)
Nebraska 8.5 (7.5–9.5) 5.5 (4.5–6.8) 12.3 (10.7–14.1)
Nevada 14.8 (12.3–17.6) 14.2 (11.0–18.3) 15.5 (12.4–19.3)
New Hampshire 10.0 (8.8–11.2) 6.6 (5.4–8.1) 15.1 (13.0–17.5)
New York 11.2 (9.9–12.7) 9.2 (7.5–11.2) 13.9 (11.9–16.2)
New Jersey 12.4 (11.4–13.4) 10.1 (8.8–11.5) 15.5 (14.0–17.0)
New Mexico 11.0 (9.8–12.3) 10.2 (8.7–11.9) 12.1 (10.3–14.2)
North Carolina 8.4 (7.7–9.1) 7.8 (6.9–8.9) 9.2 (8.2–10.3)
North Dakota 9.8 (8.6–11.3) 6.8 (5.4–8.6) 13.6 (11.5–16.1)
Oklahoma 8.9 (8.0–10.0) 8.1 (6.8–9.6) 10.1 (8.7–11.7)
Oregon 6.8 (5.9–7.9) 5.3 (4.2–6.6) 9.2 (7.6–11.1)
Utah 5.9 (4.9–7.1) 4.6 (3.5–6.1) 7.9 (6.2–9.9)
Pennsylvania 10.6 (9.4–11.9) 7.4 (6.0–8.9) 14.6 (12.6–16.8)
Rhode Island 10.6 (9.4–12.1) 6.9 (5.6–8.6) 15.3 (13.1–17.8)
South Carolina 9.8 (8.8–10.9) 7.9 (6.7–9.2) 12.7 (11.0–14.6)
South Dakota 11.5 (10.4–12.7) 7.7 (6.5–9.2) 16.0 (14.2–18.1)
Tennessee 7.7 (6.4–9.2) 6.8 (5.3–8.7) 9.0 (7.0–11.5)
Texas 11.4 (9.7–13.3) 9.3 (7.3–12.0) 14.7 (12.3–17.5)
Vermont 7.0 (6.2–8.0) 5.8 (4.8–6.9) 9.1 (7.7–10.7)
Virginia 9.1 (7.5–10.9) 5.7 (4.5–7.3) 14.8 (11.5–18.8)
Washington 6.1 (5.6–6.6) 5.0 (4.4–5.7) 7.8 (7.0–8.8)
West Virginia 8.1 (6.9–9.4) 7.2 (5.7–9.0) 9.2 (7.3–11.4)
Wisconsin 7.0 (6.0–8.3) 5.0 (3.9–6.4) 9.9 (8.0–12.1)
Wyoming 7.7 (6.7–8.9) 6.3 (5.0–7.8) 10.1 (8.4–12.2)
Puerto Rico 12.4 (11.1–13.9) 10.6 (9.0–12.5) 15.0 (12.9–17.3)
Virgin Islands 14.8 (12.7–17.2) 15.2 (12.6–18.2) 14.1 (10.6–18.5)
Footnotes:
† A confidence interval (CI) describes the level of uncertainty of an estimate and specifies the range in which the true value is likely to fall. The State of Mental Health and Aging in America online report uses a 95% level of significance, which means that 95% of the time, the true value falls within these boundaries. When comparing prevalence of variables across states or years, we recommend the use of confidence intervals. If the confidence intervals overlap, the difference is not statistically significant.
Content source: CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
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