The influence of social support on AIDS-related grief reaction among gay men

This paper examines the relationships between instrumental and emotional social support and the experience of grief reaction in a sample of 180 gay men who had lost a lover or close friend to AIDS during the first 5 years of the epidemic. Structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted in mid-1985. Grief reaction was assessed through a newly developed 12-item scale (alpha = 0.85). Availability and adequacy of instrumental and emotional support were assessed with reference to the tasks of caretaking and emotional pain experienced during the lover's or close friend's illness with AIDS. The findings indicate that gay men who lost a lover or close friend to AIDS experienced symptoms of grief similar to those reported in studies of bereaved spouses and parents. The intensity of these grief reactions appears to be influenced by a number of factors. First, more intense grief reactions were observed among those who had taken care of their lover or close friend during his illness compared with those who did not act as caretakers. Second, while the simple availability of instrumental and emotional support was unrelated to grief reactions, the perceived adequacy of both types of support was strongly related to the level of grief. Respondents who had received inadequate help with caretaking responsibilities experienced more intense symptoms of grief subsequent to the death compared with those who reported receiving adequate caretaking support. Similarly, respondents who did not obtain adequate emotional support for the pain they experienced during the course of the illness reported more intense symptoms of grief compared with those who felt they had received adequate support.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Sources of support and the physical and mental well-being of young women with breast cancer.

Women following the stress resulting from the diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer draw resources from their network of friends and relatives. These resources include both emotional support and instrumental resources such as getting a ride to a medical appointment. Emotional support buffers the effects of the stresses they face and improves their mental well-being while the existence, rather than the use, of instrumental supports is positively related to physical well-being. These hypotheses are tested on a population-based cohort of 336 women in the United States, diagnosed and treated for breast cancer when aged 50 or less. Most are married (65%), work (75%), have dependent children (63%), are white (70%), and had a mastectomy (51%). Results of the multi-variate analyses indicate that consistent with predictions, controlling for socio-demographic and treatment-related variables, the size of the social network was related to greater emotional and instrumental support, and greater emotional support was related to better mental well-being. Contrary to predictions, greater use of instrumental resources was related to poorer physical well-being. The results indicate the importance of social resources on well-being following life-threatening illness.     

Social networks and psychosocial support among disabled people

Analysis of the network characteristics and nature of social ties among physically disabled people living in an inner London borough showed network size rather than network type was related to the availability of psychosocial support, reflecting the important role of both related and non-related people in the provision of this form of support. The study also questioned three commonly held assumptions. Firstly, in contrast to the image of physically disabled people as lacking social ties, those with a high level of disability, although having a lower level of social contact outside the household than other groups, did not differ significantly in other aspects of their network structures and support. Secondly, in contrast to the characterisation of inner city areas as relatively homogeneous and as lacking locally based ties, the inner London area studied comprised a variety of network types with a large proportion of respondents deriving support from people living in close proximity. Thirdly, whereas the presence of household members, and especially a spouse, tend to be equated with the availability of strong emotional support, considerable numbers of married people lacked such support. This suggests measures to promote psychosocial support need to be fairly broadly based and cautions against using marital status as a proxy measure of support.     

Social networks and social support among black urban elderly: a health care resource

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in social networks and social support among the black urban elderly. This article reports from a community survey on the size, interaction, availability and adequacy of support and roles of kin and non-kin network members. The findings reveal frequent contact among family, relatives, friends, and neighbors. Black elderly utilize network members differentially for emergency and nonemergency situations. Implications for social work in health care are discussed.     

The mediating role of perceived control in the relationship between social ties and depressive symptoms

This study first examines gender differences in the receipt and efficacy of four types of social ties. It is hypothesized that womens relationships involve more demanding social ties, which increase rather than decrease depressive symptoms. Next, this study explores the role of perceived control as a mediator in the relationship between social tics and depressive symptoms. It is hypothesized that the association between these social ties and depressive symptoms is mediated through perceived control. Results suggest that demanding social ties have the strongest association with depressive symptoms, and that this relationship is much stronger for women than for men. Emotional support is strongly associated with depressive symptoms for men and women, whereas instrumental support and number of close ties have negligible effects on depressive symptoms. Perceived control most strongly mediates (rather than moderates) those relationships with the strongest associations: demanding ties and depressive symptoms, and emotional support and depressive symptoms. Substantial direct associations between social ties and depressive symptoms remain after removing the effects mediated by perceived control.     

Perceived social support and family meeting attendance preferences among family medicine outpatients

Although there is much social science literature about social support, relatively little is known about the extent and sources of support that family medicine patients perceive to be available to them. A questionnaire requesting ratings of perceived informational, instrumental, emotional, and crisis support in a variety of relationships was administered to 101 family practice center outpatients. Results indicated strong perceptions of available support overall, with highest levels perceived from partners and parents. Notably, however, strong support was also perceived from extrafamilial sources, surpassing that of other categories of biological relatives. Levels of perceived support from particular people also varied according to type of support being rated. Finally, patients expressed strong preferences for inviting both immediate family members and supportive extrafamilial persons to hospital meetings with physicians to discuss serious medical problems. Results are consistent with a multifactorial model of social support and suggest that physicians should take a broad social systems perspective in assessing patient resources and negotiating attendance at family meetings.     

The Mediating Role of Perceived Control in the Relationship Between Social Ties and Depressive Symptoms

ABSTRACT

This study first examines gender differences in the receipt and efficacy of four types of social ties. It is hypothesized that women's relationships involve more demanding social ties, which increase rather than decrease depressive symptoms. Next, this study explores the role of perceived control as a mediator in the relationship between social ties and depressive symptoms. It is hypothesized that the association between these social ties and depressive symptoms is mediated through perceived control. Results suggest that demanding social ties have the strongest association with depressive symptoms, and that this relationship is much stronger for women than for men. Emotional support is strongly associated with depressive symptoms for men and women, whereas instrumental support and number of close ties have negligible effects on depressive symptoms. Perceived control most strongly mediates (rather than moderates) those relationships with the strongest associations: demanding ties and depressive symptoms, and emotional support and depressive symptoms. Substantial direct associations between social ties and depressive symptoms remain after removing the effects mediated by perceived control.     

Association of occupational stress and social support with health-related behaviors among chinese offshore oil workers

To explore the relationship of occupational stress and social support with health-related behaviors of smoking, alcohol usage and physical inactivity, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 561 offshore oil installation workers of a Chinese state-owned oil company. They were investigated with a self-administered questionnaire about socio-demographic characteristics, occupational stress, social support and health-related behaviors. Logistic regression analysis was used to study the association between occupational stress, social support and health-related behaviors and adjusted for age, educational level, marital status, duration of offshore work and job title. Of 561 workers, 218 (38.9%) were current smokers, 124 (22.1%) current drinkers, and 354 (63.1%) physically inactive in their leisure time. Further multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that: (1) Current smoking was significantly negatively related with perceived stress from "Safety" (OR=0.74; 95% CI=0.58-0.94) and lack of supervisors' instrumental support (OR=0.34; 95% CI=0.18-0.65); (2) Current drinking was significantly positively related to perceived stress from "Interface between job and family/social life" (OR=1.32; 95% CI=1.02-1.70) and "Organizational structure" (OR=1.35; 95% CI=1.06-1.74), but was significantly negatively related to poor emotional support from friends (OR=0.54; 95% CI=0.62-0.96); (3) Physical inactivity after work was significantly positively associated with perceived stress from "Safety" (OR=1.44; 95% CI=1.16-1.79) and lack of instrumental support from both supervisors (OR=1.74; 95% CI=1.16-2.65) and friends (OR=1.68; 95% CI=1.06-2.42). The findings suggest that psychosocial factors of occupational stress and social support at offshore oil work might affect workers' health-related behaviors in different ways.     

Social support and depressive symptoms in the elderly.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of characteristics of social networks and support on depressive symptoms in the elderly. The subjects were 1,962 noninstitutionalized persons 65 years and older from the New Haven Establishment of Populations for Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly in 1982, who were available to give a complete follow-up interview in 1985. Baseline depression, functional disability in 1982, and any change in disability by 1985 were considered as additional influences on 1985 depression, requiring adjustment along with sociodemographic variables. Multiple regression procedures were used to simultaneously examine the variables. Baseline depression, functional disability, and change in functional disability made the largest contribution to explaining the variance in depression. Among the social support and network characteristics, loss of a spouse, adequacy of emotional support, and its change during 1982-1985 made the largest contributions. Other significant characteristics in relative order of magnitude of effect, based on contrast tests, included tangible support adequacy and its change, loss of a confidant between 1982 and 1985, number of children making weekly visits and change in this number by 1985, and the absence of a confidant in both 1982 and 1985. For mental health outcomes, these findings emphasize the need to consider specific dimensions of social support and networks rather than global measures.     

河南省艾滋病病毒感染者和艾滋病患者社会支持状况研究

目的了解艾滋病病毒感染者和艾滋病患者社会支持状况,探索改善该人群生存环境的途径。方法采用多阶段随机整群抽样方式抽取河南省艾滋病高发的8个县（区）1200人（HIV／AIDS组）进行问卷调查,内容包括社会交往、工作和婚姻受影响情况及受资助情况等。并抽取同生活区非感染者1200人（非HIV／AIDS组）进行对照分析。结果HIV／AIDS组中与亲戚很少来往的比例占47．6％,认为就业受影响很大的占66．1％,生活困难者得到过政府在生活上的帮助的占64．5％。在与亲戚的来往频度、与朋友来往频度、对就业的影响程度、本人或家庭其他人员婚姻受影响程度、受亲朋好友资助、受政府及社会救助、生活困难者是否得到过政府在生活上的帮助等方面,HIV／AIDS组和非HIV／AIDS组之间有统计学差异。结论艾滋病对艾滋病病毒感染者和艾滋病患者的社会交往、家庭和生活有较大影响,需要各个方面给予他们更多的支持。     

Roles of religious involvement and social support in the risk of colon cancer among Blacks and Whites

This population-based case-control study of Blacks and Whites in North Carolina (1996-2000) examined the relation between social ties, etiology of colon cancer, and stage of disease at diagnosis. Interviews were conducted with 637 cases and 1,043 controls. Information was collected on two dimensions of social ties, structural (network) dimensions and functional (emotional and tangible help) dimensions. Infrequent attendance at religious services (less than once per month) was associated with a regional/advanced stage of colon cancer at diagnosis in Whites (odds ratio (OR) = 1.67, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09, 2.57; p for trend = 0.02) but not in Blacks (OR = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.66, 2.21; p for trend = 0.80). Among Blacks, minimal emotional support was strongly associated with risk of colon cancer (OR = 4.62, 95% CI: 2.06, 10.35; p for trend < 0.001) and with both local (OR = 3.69, 95% CI: 1.08, 12.69; p for trend < 0.001) and advanced (OR = 5.10, 95% CI: 2.03, 12.82; p for trend < 0.01) disease. No associations between emotional support and risk of colon cancer or stage of disease were observed among Whites. These results suggest that certain characteristics of social ties are associated with both risk of and prognostic indicators for colon cancer.     

An investigation of social support and burnout among residential counselors

Maslach and Jackson's (1986) three dimensions of burnout, emotional exhaustion, lack of personal accomplishment and depersonalization, were investigated among 78 counselors at a short-term, residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. Two waves of data were collected so that possible changes in burnout over time could be assessed. Measures of co-worker support (team cohesion and perceived quality of friendships) were better predictors of burnout than supervisor support. High levels of co-worker support were consistently and positively related to greater personal accomplishment. Levels of personal accomplishment increased and emotional exhaustion decreased as staff accumulated more counseling experience. Women residential counselors experienced higher levels of emotional exhaustion than did their male counterparts. Initial levels of burnout were powerful predictors of later levels of burnout. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for human services providers are discussed.Thanks are extended to Harry Parad, Jack Wright, and Elaine Sweeney for their assistance in the research project.     

眼视光专业学生专业承诺与社会支持的相关性分析

目的了解西安医学院眼视光专业学生专业承诺的现状,并分析其与社会支持的相关性,为专业的发展提出相应的建议与对策提供科学依据。方法采用整群抽样,利用《大学生专业承诺量表》和《领悟社会支持量表问卷》,对西安医学院2008—2010年级眼视光专业148名学生进行问卷调查。对资料进行描述性分析、Pearson相关分析和多元回归分析。结果眼视光专业学生专业承诺水平不高,相关分析显示,社会支持各维度与情感承诺、理想承诺及总承诺均呈正相关(P0.05);另外,朋友支持和其他支持与总承诺、情感承诺及理想承诺都呈正相关(P0.05);多元回归分析显示,朋友支持是对总承诺影响最为显著的方面(P0.05)。结论眼视光专业学生专业承诺水平不高;其中学校的专业思想教育、老师的专业指导和朋友、同学们对眼视光专业学生所学专业的理解和认同对眼视光专业学生专业承诺影响最为显著。     

Behavior-specific social support for healthy behaviors among african american church members: applying optimal matching theory.

This study used data from 850 African Americans to test optimal matching theory (OMT). OMT predicts that 1) the most important dimensions of social support depend on the controllability of the behavior and 2) different network members often provide support across health behaviors. Data were gathered on social support source for physical activity, healthy diet, and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening; perceived levels of informational, instrumental, and emotional support specific to these behaviors; self-efficacy around the behaviors; and engagement in the behaviors. Within individuals, the primary support source varied considerably across the behaviors under consideration. Multivariate models regressing behaviors on dimension-specific support indicated partial support for OMT: Informational support was associated with a healthy diet and CRC screening; instrumental support was associated with a healthy diet and CRC screening; and emotional support was associated with CRC screening and, among women, physical activity. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of developing more effective interventions.     

Social network ties and mortality among the elderly in the Alameda County Study

Seventeen-year mortality data from the Alameda County Study are used to examine the relative importance of social ties as predictors of survival at different ages, ranging from 38-94 years at baseline. Previous analyses of Alameda County data by Berkman and Syme (Am J Epidemiol 1979;109:186-204) have shown that such ties are significant predictors of lower nine-year mortality risk for persons aged less than 70 years at baseline. Proportional hazard analyses indicate that social ties are also significant predictors of lower 17-year mortality risks for those aged 70 and older after adjusting for age, sex, race, baseline health status, perceived health, depression, and health practices (relative hazard = 1.49 for Berkman-Syme Social Network Index; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09-2.05). Comparisons of the relative importance of four types of social ties reveal an interesting shift across the age groups. Marital status assumes primary importance for those aged less than 60 years at baseline (relative hazard = 1.6 and 1.4 for those aged 38-49 and 50-59, respectively; 95% CI = 1.12-2.29 and 1.02-1.91, respectively). However, ties with close friends and/or relatives assume greater importance for those aged 60 and older (relative hazard = 1.17 comparing those reporting five or more contacts per month to the more socially isolated who report less than five such contacts per month; 95% CI = 0.98-1.89).     

The role of social support and self-esteem in the presence and course of depressive symptoms: a comparison of cancer patients and individuals from the general population

The key focus of this longitudinal study in the Netherlands was to determine the role of social support (i.e. perceived availability of emotional support, lack of received problem-focused emotional support, and negative interactions) and positive and negative self-esteem in depressive symptoms in 475 recently diagnosed cancer patients and 255 individuals without cancer from the general population. Patients and the comparison group were interviewed and filled in a questionnaire at two points in time: 3 months (T1) and 15 months (T2) after diagnosis. The results indicated that social support and self-esteem were weakly to moderately related to each other. Negative self-esteem was more strongly related to all three types of social support, compared to positive self-esteem. Regression analyses showed that social support and self-esteem were independently related to depressive symptoms (concurrently), such that lower levels of social support and self-esteem were strongly associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. This finding suggests that these two resources supplement each other additively. A longitudinal analysis showed that social support and self-esteem also predicted future levels of depressive symptoms, although the explained variance was much lower than in a cross-sectional analysis. Comparisons between cancer patients and the comparison group generally revealed no significant differences between the two groups in the associations of social support and self-esteem with depressive symptoms. The only exception was a lack of problem-focused emotional support. At three months after diagnosis, a lack of this type of support, characterised by reassuring, comforting, problem-solving, and advice, was more strongly related to depressive symptoms in patients than in the comparison group.     

Experiences of Swedish children with disabilities: activities and social support in daily life

Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe experiences of everyday activities and social support in daily life in children with disabilities. Method: Interviews were conducted with 33 children (14 girls and 19 boys, aged 7–13 years) with physical, intellectual, or neuro-psychiatric disability. Interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: In many ways, the children described themselves as being like any other child or adolescent. Their narratives showed that they had developed strategies to cope with the consequences of their disability, both socially and in the performance of daily activities. The children received social support in everyday activities, mainly from their family and close friends. Meeting other children with the same disability supported opportunities for identification. However, their experiences of everyday activities were in many cases associated with sadness, especially when they could not participate in activities with their peers. Conclusions: According to the children's statements, it is important for people close to these children, both habilitation staff and others, to take responsibility for improving emotional, informative, and instrumental support in order to enable the children to perform and participate in everyday activities.     

Gender accommodation in online cancer support groups

The postings made to Internet forums by relatives and friends of people with breast and prostate cancer are described. Women post very frequently on the prostate cancer forum and assume a communication style that is similar to women elsewhere, prioritizing emotional forms of communication over the informational forms preferred by men and showing only mild signs of accommodation to a male style. Men on the breast cancer forum are in a minority and are often responding to the current or anticipated loss of a partner. Their communication behaviour is radically different from that required by dominant conceptions of masculinity. They prioritize emotional communication and the emotional welfare of family members. They experience this new form of communication as unsettling to their conceptions of traditional masculinity. Internet cancer support groups thus favour a form and content of communication generally associated with women's culture.     

Assessment of a short scale to measure social support

A wide variety of measures have been used to assess the effects of social support on both physical and psychological status. Information on the reliability and validity of many of these instruments is unavailable; other instruments appear to be reasonably valid but involve large numbers of questions and require considerable time for completion. This study examines the properties of a short, self-administered social support scale (SSS). Data are available from 3 samples: HMO clients in a weight loss program (N = 268); chronic facial pain patients (N = 92); and colorectal cancer patients (N = 318). Three scoring strategies measuring two dimensions (structural and perceptual) of social support are compared with respect to internal consistency and criterion and construct validity. One of these strategies results in a measure that behaves in a way consistent with other, longer instruments and appears to possess acceptable reliability and validity. Scores can be broken down by source (e.g. spouse, friends), and wording can be modified to measure either general support or support for a specific situation.