How is the mental and psychological well-being mediating? The role of the social support and early interactions.

Background: The study refers to an ecological perspective that focuses on the theoretical interest on contextual variable that could be important to determine links between the quality of early relationships and well-being of the individual( Beeble et al. 2009) with specific attention on the perception of social support, the strategies of coping and the different level of stress perceived(Cohen, Pressaman, 2004). Thorugh this model, the aims of the study are to investigate: a)wheter and how the perceived social support may have a “buffering” or “main” effect on physical and/or psychological sympthomatology, b) wheter and how the quality of the early experience have an important role to determine the general state of health perceived by the individual. Method: the sample is composed of 266 subjects between 30 and 50 years, belonging to non clinical population. In addition to a socio-demographic profile, the participants completed a battery of self-report: interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL, Cohen, Hoberman, 1983), Symptom Chek list-90( SCL-90, Derogatis et al., 1970), Parental Bonding Instrument( PBI, Parker et al, 1979), Coping orientation to problems experienced( COPE-NVI, Sica et al., 2008) measurement of psychological distress( MSP, Di Nuovo et al., 2000). Results: Data showed: a) a buffering effect of social support in the onset of physical symptoms and/or mental b) and indirect link between the quality of early experiences and health status perceived by the individual, mediated by perceptions of social support, level of stress and coping strategies(X2(4,N= 266)=4.05, p=.40, RMSE= .024, CI for RMSE=.00, GFI=.99,NFI= .99, NNFI=1.00). Conclusion: the contextual variables found to have a mediating role-than the quality of early experiences-in determining the onset of any symptoms, physical and/or mental.