Research Article

Factors Associated with Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain

Volume: 11 Number: 3 October 30, 2026
TR EN

Factors Associated with Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain

Abstract

Health reflects not only material circumstances but also psychosocial resources, yet their relative roles are rarely examined together in national data. Using the Turkish General Social Survey 2024 (TGSS-2024), a national survey of 2,615 adults, we examined the factors associated with two separate outcomes, self-rated health and affective well-being (a ten-item affect battery indexing predominantly low psychological distress; Cronbach’s α=0.88), focusing on social support (α=0.71) and financial strain, with healthy lifestyle behaviours and demographic and socioeconomic covariates, and religiosity examined descriptively. Associations were estimated with hierarchical linear regression using heteroscedasticity-consistent (HC3) robust standard errors, and the stress-buffering hypothesis was tested as a social support × financial strain interaction; robustness checks included post-stratification weighting, regional fixed effects, region-clustered standard errors, and a marker-variable common-method check. Social support was the factor most strongly associated with both outcomes, and more so with affective well-being (β=0.40) than self-rated health (β=0.25). Financial strain was independently associated with worse self-rated health (β=−0.15) and lower well-being (β=−0.13). Social support significantly moderated the financial strain–well-being association (interaction β=+0.07, p=0.002), which was about three times weaker at high than at low support (β=−0.07, p=0.03 versus β=−0.21, p<0.001) attenuated but not eliminated, and modest in size (ΔR²=0.6%); no moderation was found for self-rated health. Men reported higher scores on both outcomes, and the dimensions diverged across age. These cross-sectional findings identify social support as the resource most strongly associated with population health, warranting attention in responses to economic strain.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Ethical Statement

This study is a secondary analysis of the publicly available and fully anonymised Turkish General Social Survey 2024 (TGSS-2024) dataset; it involved no new interaction with human participants and no access to identifying information. In accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, secondary analyses of publicly available, anonymised data that do not involve the collection of new data are exempt from ethics-committee approval; accordingly, no separate ethics-committee approval was sought. The necessary permissions and participant consent for the original data collection were obtained by the Turkish Statistical Institute.

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Health Promotion, Social Determinants of Health, Public Health (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

October 30, 2026

Submission Date

June 25, 2026

Acceptance Date

October 26, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 11 Number: 3

APA
Karataş, G. G., & Kaya, E. (2026). Factors Associated with Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain. Eskişehir Türk Dünyası Uygulama Ve Araştırma Merkezi Halk Sağlığı Dergisi, 11(3), 325-341. https://doi.org/10.35232/estudamhsd.1978569
AMA
1.Karataş GG, Kaya E. Factors Associated with Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain. ESTUDAM Public Health Journal. 2026;11(3):325-341. doi:10.35232/estudamhsd.1978569
Chicago
Karataş, Gülçin Gökçenur, and Emin Kaya. 2026. “Factors Associated With Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain”. Eskişehir Türk Dünyası Uygulama Ve Araştırma Merkezi Halk Sağlığı Dergisi 11 (3): 325-41. https://doi.org/10.35232/estudamhsd.1978569.
EndNote
Karataş GG, Kaya E (October 1, 2026) Factors Associated with Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain. Eskişehir Türk Dünyası Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi Halk Sağlığı Dergisi 11 3 325–341.
IEEE
[1]G. G. Karataş and E. Kaya, “Factors Associated with Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain”, ESTUDAM Public Health Journal, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 325–341, Oct. 2026, doi: 10.35232/estudamhsd.1978569.
ISNAD
Karataş, Gülçin Gökçenur - Kaya, Emin. “Factors Associated With Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain”. Eskişehir Türk Dünyası Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi Halk Sağlığı Dergisi 11/3 (October 1, 2026): 325-341. https://doi.org/10.35232/estudamhsd.1978569.
JAMA
1.Karataş GG, Kaya E. Factors Associated with Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain. ESTUDAM Public Health Journal. 2026;11:325–341.
MLA
Karataş, Gülçin Gökçenur, and Emin Kaya. “Factors Associated With Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain”. Eskişehir Türk Dünyası Uygulama Ve Araştırma Merkezi Halk Sağlığı Dergisi, vol. 11, no. 3, Oct. 2026, pp. 325-41, doi:10.35232/estudamhsd.1978569.
Vancouver
1.Gülçin Gökçenur Karataş, Emin Kaya. Factors Associated with Self-Rated Health and Affective Well-Being in Türkiye: The Roles of Social Support and Financial Strain. ESTUDAM Public Health Journal. 2026 Oct. 1;11(3):325-41. doi:10.35232/estudamhsd.1978569

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