The Impact of Social Support and Social Support Networks on the Psychological Well-Being of African-American and White Single Mothers

194 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997.African American women who are economically disadvantaged single parents, in the absence of adequate resources and supports, are at increased risk of experiencing emotional and psychological distress. The chief aim of this study was to do a more culturally sensitive examination than currently exists in the literature of the role that support networks play in influencing the psychological well-being of African American single mothers. This study represents a methodological and conceptual advance in the literature because it examined the multi-dimensional impact of support networks on multiple indicators of psychological well-being. Results show that source and type of support provided by support networks differentially impacts different types of psychological well-being. Although the mediational model tested in this study was unsupported, this study presents new and insightful ways to conceptualize the impact of social support networks on the psychological well-being of single mothers.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD