Evaluating the role of social media in providing support for family caregivers of individuals with spinal cord injury.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the strength characteristics of a stressful event (i.e. novelty, disruption, and criticality) as factors that drive people’s social media use for seeking different types of supportive resources (i.e. emotional, appraisal, informational, and instrumental support) to facilitate emotion-focused and problem-focused coping. We further assess the impact of different types of social support obtained via social media use on people’s coping effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachOur study uses an online survey collecting data at two points in time from 291 social media users during the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis.FindingsEmpirical results reveal the usefulness and limitations of social media use as a coping mechanism. All three event strength characteristics influence people’s social media use for both emotion-focused and problem-focused coping. Event novelty motivates people’s pursuit of informational support on social media, event disruption drives social media use for seeking all four types of support, and event criticality motivates social media use for seeking emotional and informational support. However, only emotion-focused resources – emotional support and appraisal support – are found to significantly affect people’s coping effectiveness.Originality/valueOur study contributes to a better understanding of the role played by social media when people cope with a stressful event. Applying the three characteristics of event strength allows us to identify people’s need for different supportive resources depending on how they perceive the event. Our analysis of the main and mediating effects of the four types of social support shows that not all types of social support can significantly enhance users’ coping effectiveness.

The present research investigates whether various types of support are distinguishable from each other, and assesses whether the stress/outcome relationship depends on the type and/or source of support. In two separate vignette studies, both the type of support (emotional, instrumental, informational, appraisal) and its source (family, friends, boyfriend, or professor) were manipulated. In both studies respondents distinguished between instrumental, informational, and appraisal support, and they also perceived these types of support as emotional in content. The type of support, but not its source, was perceived by respondents as being important for predicting outcome. Comparing subjects' ratings of perceived outcome across types of support, it was found that subjects in the informational condition predicted the most positive outcome. However, since subjects perceived that informational support was also emotional, it is concluded that it is the perceived combination of informational and emotional support that is most effective in buffering any negative outcome of stress. Implications for the construct validity of social support, and for future research using the social support construct, are discussed. One frequently debated issue concerning the conceptualization of social support is whether or not there are distinguishable types of support. Determining whether social support is a global construct or comprised of distinguishable types has implications for understanding the influence of social support on stress/outcome relationships. A second area of disagreement is whether the source of social support affects its influence on stress/outcome relationships. There continues to be disagreement concerning the conceptualization of social support, primarily because most research employs a non-experimental methodology which confounds various types and sources of support. When social support is conceptualized in terms of specific types, the number and nature of such categorizations are inconsistent. For example, Gottlieb (1978) delineates five different types of social support: emotional, sustaining behaviour, indirect personal influence, problem-solving behaviour, and environmental action on the individual's behalf. Abdel-Halim (1982) suggests that there are two types of social support: emotional and instrumental. Barrera and Ainley (1983) identify six types of social support: material aid, behavioural assistance, intimate interaction, guidance, feedback, and positive social interaction.

ABSTRACTThis study examined the relationships across social media use, social support, depression, and general psychological disposition among people with movement or mobility disabilities in Korea. First, with survey data (n = 91) collected from users of social network sites (SNSs) and online communities, hypotheses regarding positive associations between intensity of an individual’s engagement in social media and four different types of social support—emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal support—were tested as well as hypotheses regarding mediation effects of the social support variables in the association between social media use and depression. Second, through focus group interviews (n = 15), influences of social media use on social support were more thoroughly explored as well as their influences on general psychological disposition. Results from hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that both intensity of SNS use and online community use significantly predicted instrumental, informational, and appraisal support, while they did not predict emotional support. Further regression and Sobel tests showed that higher levels of intensity of SNS use and of online community use both led to lower levels of depression through the mediation of instrumental and informational support. Analysis of the interviews further revealed the positive roles of social media use in building social support and healthy psychological dispositions. However, analysis also revealed some negative consequences of and limitations to social media use for those with physical disabilities. These findings expand our knowledge of the context and implications of engaging in online social activities for people with physical disabilities.

Purpose To determine how social media platform and cancer content is associated with the presence of social support in responses to young adult cancer caregivers’ (YACC) posts. Design We retrospectively collected YACC’s Facebook and/or Instagram posts and all responses from the first six months of caregiving. Sample Eligible YACC were 18-39, caring for a cancer patient diagnosed 6 months-5 years prior, spoke English, and used social media weekly. Methods Social media posts and responses were manually coded for five social support types, then transformed to depict the proportion of responses per post representing each type of support. Using mixed-effects models, we compared the distributions of responses with social support types by platform (Facebook vs. Instagram) and cancer content (no vs. yes). Findings More responses contained emotional support on Instagram than Facebook (B = 0.25, Standard Error (SE)=0.09, p = 0.007). More responses with cancer content contained ­validation support (B = 0.20, SE = 0.07, p = 0.002), but fewer contained emotional (B=-0.17, SE = 0.07, p = 0.02) and instrumental support (B=-0.06, SE = 0.02, p = 0.001) than posts without cancer content. Conclusions Studying the responsiveness of social media followers by platform and cancer content provides a foundation for intervention development. Implications for psychosocial providers Emphasizing the suitability of different social media platforms for particular support seeking behaviors is essential.

This thesis focused on the extent to which cancer patients desired, sought, and received social support, as well as on the extent to which the patients were satisfied with the social support they received. The three types of social support studied were informational, aid/assistance, and emotional support. These types of social support were examined for two sources of social support -- health care workers, and family members/friends. Additional aims of the research were to study relationships between social support and the patient’s physical and psychological adjustment to their cancer, and to examine relationships between aspects of social support and the degree of stress associated with the two support sources. The method of the thesis involved asking a sample of 39 cancer patients (18 male, 21 female) with different types of cancer to complete mailed questionnaires. The questionnaires were sent with a cover letter that explained the general purpose of the research as well as their medical center’s cooperation with the study. Each questionnaire consisted of self-report measures that included a modified version of the UCLA Social Support Inventory and measures of the patient’s physical and psychological adjustment to their cancer. Results indicated that cancer patients received more informational support from health care workers than from family members/friends; on the other hand, they received more aid/assistance and emotional support from family members/friends than from health care workers. Informational and emotional support were more desired by the patients than was aid/assistance. Patients reported receiving as much informational support as they desired, and reported receiving more aid/assistance and emotional support than they desired. Results indicated a high degree of satisfaction with all types of support. There were no differences in the extent to which cancer patients sought the three different types of social support. Surprisingly, there was negligible evidence for relationships between social support and indices of the patients’ physical and psychological adjustment to their cancer. Among the most noteworthy results of the thesis, were findings pertaining to the negative aspects of the cancer patients’ social relationships. These findings concerned a pattern of relationships between social support and the degree of stress associated with the two support sources. Higher degrees of stress from both sources were uniformly associated with greater degrees of desired social support; at the same time, the degree of stress from the two sources was unrelated to the extent to which the patients actually sought social support. Higher degrees of stress from health care workers were associated with higher degrees of received tangible aid/assistance from this source (but was unrelated to received informational and emotional support from health care workers). The degree of stress from family members/friends was unrelated to received support of any type. Finally, higher degrees of stress from the two sources were associated with lower degrees of satisfaction with aid/assistance and emotional support.

Navigating Social Media in #Ophthalmology

To explore how family/friend young adult cancer caregivers (YACC) used social media for social support in a cross-sectional retrospective mixed-methods study. Eligible YACC were recruited online and in-person from September 2017 to June 2018, were 18-39 years, used social media weekly, and cared for an adult cancer patient diagnosed 6 months-5 years prior (N = 34). Social media posts were randomly sampled, and content analyzed for five types of social support (emotional, informational, validation, companionship, instrumental). Generalized linear models were fit to estimate changes in the prevalence of social support in posts over the 6-month period following diagnosis. The investigators analyzed N = 2090 social media posts, 26.9% made by YACC, and 73.1% by followers; 36.8% were cancer-related. The most common type of social support for YACC on social media was emotional (63.3%), followed by informational (27.7%), validation (15.3%), companionship (5.7%), and instrumental (1.3%). When controlling for platform (e.g., Instagram), the odds of posts containing emotional support decreased significantly over the first 6 months of caregiving (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.90, 95%CI 0.85-0.94), while informational (aOR: 1.15, 95%CI 1.09-1.21) and companionship (aOR: 1.12, 95%CI 1.02-1.24) support increased. YACC and their followers share emotional and informational support on social media. Next steps should determine how social media may improve (e.g., social support) or hinder (e.g., misinformation) cancer caregiving throughout survivorship. Caregivers and patients should be aware of possible fluctuations in social media support after diagnosis and the utility of using social media for different types of social support.

ABSTRACTSocial capital is a crucial factor for expatriates to employ as they cope with the demands of an international assignment. This longitudinal study used a mixed method approach to examine the social support benefits of expatriate contact with a local host. Western expatriates in the Netherlands were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group (n = 33), that had contact with a Dutch host during 9 months, and a control group (n = 32) with no host. Qualitative methods such as interviews and diaries were included to shed light on the various types of social support that occurred. Results show that local hosts offered all four types of social support: social companionship, informational support, emotional support, and instrumental support. Furthermore, expatriates with a host increased their social capital; they received significantly more social support from host nationals than did those without a host. This study shows that HRD professionals may develop the social capital of expatriates by bringing them into contact with a local host, which can produce more social support from host nationals. Increased social capital may lead to a higher performance at both the individual and organisational levels.

The measurement of social support in the ‘European research on incapacitating diseases and social support’: The development of the Social Support Questionnaire for Transactions (SSQT)

This study examines Spanish adults’ social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic using mixed-methods to assess and understand frequency, context, and changes in social media use during two critical time points in Spain. We conducted semi-structured interviews in April 2020, and two waves of surveys (April 2020, April 2021) among Spanish adults. We coded and analyzed qualitative data related to social media use during the first lockdown period in Spain using Dedoose software; and ran descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to assess changes in social media use over the two survey waves related to perceived social support and loneliness. Participants ranged in age from 18–92 and were representative of the Spanish population’s sociodemographics. Interview data show that WhatsApp was most commonly used, and that social media allowed for social support and engaging in healthy behaviors. Survey data show that women and individuals aged 18–34 had the greatest increases in social media use. Statistically significant associations were found between social support and loneliness with social media use. Our results show that promoting social media use as an emotional resource for social support in times of crisis or isolation can minimize loneliness and can be a beneficial tool for general worldwide crises.

Social media, especially social network sites (SNS) such as Facebook have grown rapidly in popularity in the last ten years. [...]

Military deployments can place stress on family members that can affect their physiological and psychological health. Although there has been much research on online social support in health-related groups, there is limited research on online social support in a deployment context. The researchers of this study conducted a content analysis of 151 discussion threads related to military deployments in an online forum for the significant others (SOs) of service members to examine the types of social support messages enacted between SOs. These enacted social support messages were further analyzed for each phase of the deployment cycle. Results showed that information and emotional support were the most frequent types of social support enacted by SOs during a deployment cycle. Information support was the most commonly requested type of social support during the pre-deployment and post-deployment phases, while emotional support was requested most often during the deployment phase. In response to the requests for social support, information support was the most commonly provided type of social support during the pre-deployment phase, while emotional support was the most commonly provided type of social support during the deployment and post-deployment phases.

The increasing use of social media has changed communication habits among parents and provides the opportunity to access social support online. This paper explored parents’ use of different social media sources and examined potential factors that motivate parents’ use of social media for parenting support. A total of 523 parents completed the Australia-wide online survey. Results indicated that parents endorsed Facebook, parenting websites and blogs as the most frequently used social media sources. Getting specific information and advice were the top ranked reasons parents accessed social media for parenting purposes. A series of multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate predictors of social media use (Model 1) and parents’ perceived level of online social support (Model 2). Analyses of Model 1 revealed that after controlling for demographic variables, parents’ social media use was predicted by internet self-efficacy, perceptions towards the social media and online support. Analyses of Model 2 revealed that after controlling for demographic variables, parents’ perceptions toward social media, and their use of social media predicted levels of online social support, such that the more parents used social media, the greater the online support they reported receiving. Child maladjustment and parenting self-efficacy did not predict either social media use or online social support. The results indicate that parents do use social media for parenting purposes, and that it can serve as a type of social support.

Youth Social Media Use and Health Outcomes: #diggingdeeper

Little is known about how online social networking can help enhance weight loss. To examine the types of online social support utilized in a behavioral weight loss intervention and relationship of posting and weight loss. A sub-analysis of the content and number of posts to Twitter among participants (n = 47) randomized to a mobile, social network arm as part of a 6-month trial among overweight adults, examining weight loss, use of Twitter, and type of social support (informational, tangible assistance, esteem, network, and emotional support). A number of Twitter posts were related to % weight loss at 6months (p < 0.001). Initial reported weight loss predicted engagement with Twitter (p < 0.01) but prior Twitter use or initial Twitter engagement did not. Most Twitter posts (total posts n = 2,630) were Informational support (n = 1,981; 75%), with the predominant subtype of Teaching (n = 1,632; 62%), mainly in the form of a status update (n = 1,319). Engagement with Twitter was related to weight loss and participants mainly used Twitter to provide Information support to one another through status updates.