Social Support and Physical Health Among East Asian Americans: The Moderating Role of Asian Cultural Values

Available national health data indicate growing risk of chronic disease and poor physical health among Asians in the United States. Social support is a critical psychosocial factor implicated in the prevention and maintenance of chronic disease; however, the construct of social support and its health-promoting effects are less understood among Asian Americans, who hold differing social norms and values than those in Western cultures. Extant research suggests that the health- promoting effects of social support may depend on cultural congruence of socially supportive behaviors (i.e., cultural fit). Thus, the current study sought to answer the following research questions: 1) what forms of social support are associated with physical health of East Asian American adults, and 2) how does the magnitude and/or direction of these relationships change based on endorsement of Asian American cultural values? East Asian American adults were recruited via Prolific, and consenting participants were invited to complete a series of surveys via Qualtrics. The Latent Moderated Structural Equations approach was used to examine the moderating role of Asian American values on the relationship between various types of social support and subjective physical health. Results demonstrated that all types of social support predicted favorable physical health outcomes, and these relationships did not change as a function of one’s endorsement of Asian cultural values. Findings highlight that the health- promoting potential of various types of social support is universal and robust across cultural value endorsement among Asian Americans.