Emotional Reactivity to Daily Physical Symptoms in Adulthood and Old Age: The Role of Different Facets of Social Support

Introduction: Routine physical symptoms can impact our everyday emotional experiences in adulthood and old age, with evidence of elevated emotional reactivity on days with more symptoms. Social support is known to profoundly influence emotional regulation in the face of challenge. Although different types and sources of support are known to differ in how helpful they are, this has not been tested for emotional reactivity to routine physical symptoms. We therefore examined (1) emotional support received in daily life, (2) perceptions of support from friends, and (3) from family, as moderators of emotional reactivity to routine physical symptoms. We also aimed to extend limited and inconsistent evidence on the moderating role of functional limitations and age. Methods: Multi-level models were applied to the MIDUS 3: Daily Diary Project (2017-2019), wherein 1,021 participants (Mage= 62.7; range= 43-90; 56% female) reported routine physical symptoms, emotional support received, positive and negative affect on eight consecutive days. Results: Evidence for the differential role of social support emerged: perceived support from family (but not friends) attenuated emotional reactivity while emotional reactivity was exacerbated on days when emotional support was received (but only for negative affect). No “spillover” effect indicated that the potentially negative role of received support is short-lived and context dependent. We found exacerbated emotional reactivity for those with more limitations, but age was unrelated. Conclusion: Findings add to the literature on the complex role of social support and functional health for handling the emotional ups and downs of everyday symptom as we age.