Background & Aim: Chronic diseases are one of the most prevalent health problems affecting the quality of an adolescent's interaction with others. Social support can be important particularly during adolescence due to the many internal and external changes that happen to a person. This study aimed to determine the levels of perceived social support and its correlated factors in adolescents with chronic disease.
Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, 172 adolescents 11-16 years with a chronic disease referred to Tehran’s selected hospitals, were included using purposive sampling during three months in 2014. Data were collected through “children and adolescents social support questionnaire”. Data were analyzed by independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression on SPSS software v.22.
Results: The total score of perceived social support (45.46±5.88) was at a high level. Among the demographic factors, gender (P<0.01), ethnicity, parental education, family income, number of children, birth order, and having insurance (P<0.001) showed a significant correlation with perceived social support. Among the factors related to illness, the type of chronic disease (P<0.01), the number of hospitalizations (P<0.001), the lack of participation in group activities due to illness (P=0.04), school absenteeism rates (P=0.002) and academic failure (P<0.001) were significantly associated with perceived social support.
Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, given the level of perceived social support and its related factors, it is recommended to pay more attention to caring for adolescents with chronic disease at the community level.
