Effects of Social Support, Role Stress, and Locus of Control on Health

The main and interactive effects of social support, work role stressors, and locus of control on three health variables were investigated. It was hypothesized that the buffering effect of social support would prevail for individuals with an internal locus of control, but not for those with an external locus of control. Prior research on this hypothesis was extended by (a) examing a sample of 312 fulltime police officers and firefighters, (b) using a multidimensional locus of control measure, and (c) assessing both long-term outcomes (depression and somatic health complaints) and a short-term strain response (epinephrine excretion). Results suggest that social support has ameliorative effects on depression and somatic complaints. Role stressors appear to exacerbate these same outcomes. Two-way interaction effects suggest that (a) social support may buffer the effect of job stress on somatic complaints and (b) externals may respond more strongly to job stress than internals. Interpretation of the significant three-way interactions suggests that locus of control and social support may jointly determine how workers respond to job stress. The form of the interactions, however, differs depending on whether the outcome represents a short-term alarm reaction or a longer-term health outcome.