Sociocognitive model of life satisfaction in people with chronic disease

Life satisfaction is an important indicator of subjective well-being in chronic patients. In this paper, the sociocognitive health model is used to analyze the psychosocial variables that influence life satisfaction. An explanatory model is proposed in which life satisfaction is determined by the stress experienced, the feeling of efficacy to face the difficulties derived from the disease and the perception of personal autonomy. A transversal design was developed with a sample of 64 people suffering from chronic diseases. The patients were contacted through health associations and a questionnaire was administered. It is found that stress and coping self-efficacy are direct and significant determinants of satisfaction. In this sense, participants who perceive themselves to be less stressed and more able to cope experience more satisfaction in life. Those who are more coping are those who feel less stress. Functional autonomy, lower in women than in men, indirectly conditions satisfaction, through stress and coping self-efficacy, so that the lower the perceived autonomy, the greater the perceived stress and the less the coping efficiency. The proposed model explains 35% of life satisfaction. The results reflect the need to train cognitive strategies to cope with the disease and to train the patient to have greater functional autonomy and less dependence on the social environment.