The role of perceived social support in subjective wellbeing among working-age U.S. adults with and without limitations in activities of daily living

Background: Perceived social support may enhance subjective wellbeing (SWB) for adults with activities of daily living (ADL) limitations. However, little is known about how social support may mediate (explain) and/or moderate SWB differences among U.S. working-age adults with versus without ADL limitations. Objective: This study examines the role of perceived emotional and instrumental support in hedonic, eudaimonic, and evaluative wellbeing among adults with and without ADL limitations. Methods: Data were from the 2021 National Wellbeing Survey – a national survey of U.S. working-age adults aged 18–64 (N = 3775). We used regression analyses to investigate differences in hedonic, eudaimonic, and evaluative wellbeing between individuals with versus without ADL limitations, as well as the roles of emotional and instrumental social support in explaining observed differences. We used interaction terms to examine whether social support moderated the observed associations. Results: Adults with ADL limitations reported lower SWB than those without limitations across all three dimensions. Depending on the degree of limitations, the associations between ADL limitations and SWB decreased in magnitude or were no longer statistically significant after accounting for emotional and instrumental support. While both types of support were associated with better SWB among the three ADL groups, those with ADL limitations may benefit less from emotional support on both eudaimonic and evaluative wellbeing than those without limitations. Conclusions: Lower social support may contribute to worse SWB among adults with ADL limitations. Although this subpopulation may benefit from high social support, improving their SWB may require systemic interventions beyond simply enhancing social support.