Faculty Development through Training Effectiveness: Role of Training Contents, Social Support and Instrumentality

OBJECTIVE: A significant number of people with mental illness do not use mental health services to receive treatment for their symptoms. This study examined the hypothesis that social network and social support affect mental health service use. METHODS: Data were from the Baltimore cohort of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, a prospective cohort study that gathered data over four time points. This study examined data gathered in 1993–1996 (N=1,920) and 2004–2005 (N=1,071). The study examined indicators of social network and social support in relation to four types of service use (general medical, mental health within general medical, specialty psychiatric, and other human services) with multivariate logistic regression. Examples of other human services include a self-help group or crisis center for help with any psychological problem. Weighted generalized estimating equations were used for the analyses. RESULTS: Among persons with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or alcohol use disorder in the past year or psychological distress in the past few weeks, general medical service use was reduced when the frequency of contact with relatives or friends occurred less than daily, but it was increased by about 40% when there was a higher than median level of spousal support. In contrast, receiving general medical services for mental health problems was reduced by about 50% when there was a higher than median level of social support from relatives. Specialty psychiatric service use was reduced when there was regular contact with six or more relatives and there was a higher than median level of social support from friends and relatives. None of the social network or social support measures were significantly (p≤.01) associated with use of other human services. CONCLUSIONS: Increased contact with the social network and higher levels of social support were associated with greater use of general medical services. However, more social support was associated with use of fewer services within the specialty psychiatric sector.

Faculty development is increasingly acknowledged as an important aspect of health professions education. Its conceptualization has evolved from an individual skills training activity to contemporary notions that draw on an organizational model. This organizational model recognizes relationships and networks as important mediators of knowledge mobilization. Although such conceptual advancements are critical, we lack empirical evidence and robust insights into how social networks function to shape learning in faculty development. The purpose of this study was to understand how informal professional social networks influence faculty development learning in the health professions. This study used a qualitative social network approach to explore how teaching faculty's relationships influenced their learning about teaching. The study was conducted in 2018 in an undergraduate course at a Canadian medical school. Eleven faculty participants were recruited, and 3 methods of data collection were employed: semistructured interviews, participant-drawn sociograms, and demographic questionnaires. The social networks of faculty participants influenced their learning about teaching in the following 4 dimensions: enabling and mobilizing knowledge acquisition, shaping identity formation, expressing vulnerability, and scaffolding learning. Faculty developers should consider faculty's degree of social embeddedness in their professional social networks, as our study suggests this may influence their learning about teaching. The findings align with recent calls to conceptually reorient faculty development in the health professions as a dynamic social enterprise.

Perceived social support serves as a protective factor in the course of chronic pain and substance use disorders in civilian populations, but the role of support from civilians versus other military personnel for combat veterans experiencing chronic pain has not yet been explored. The current study examined differences in the protective properties of perceived social support from (1) military personnel and (2) civilians, regarding substance use and perceived substance abuse for combat veterans experiencing chronic pain. We hypothesized that higher endorsement of both types of perceived social support would be associated with lower odds of self-reported, perceived substance abuse, and support from military personnel would be associated with lower odds of perceived substance abuse after controlling for the role of non-military social support. The current study evaluated military personnel who were deployed to a combat zone for more than 1 month. Participants completed an online, anonymous survey including questions regarding experiences with chronic pain, cannabis, and illegal substance use, their beliefs regarding alcohol or prescription pill abuse, and their perceived military and non-military social support. We conducted a series of binary logistic regressions to evaluate whether perceived military and non-military social support predicted the odds of endorsing substance use, with several sociodemographic variables and chronic pain entered as covariates for each model. The Auburn University Institutional Review Board approved all study procedures. Contrary to our hypotheses, participants reporting higher levels of non-military social support were more likely to endorse using cannabis or other illegal substances and report perceived alcohol or prescription medication abuse, even when controlling for sociodemographic and chronic pain covariates. Our hypothesis that greater support from military personnel would predict lower odds of perceived substance abuse after controlling for the role of non-military social support was not supported. Our results add to the mixed literature regarding the association between substance use with increased social support among combat veterans, while providing more detail on the role of specific social support sources in relation to drug use as well as alcohol use. Our findings may be because of combat veterans engaging in social drinking with members of their support system or utilizing substances for pain management purposes, but more research is needed on this topic. Results suggest researchers and clinicians should be mindful to inquire of one's social support sources, the quality of these relationships, and what adaptive or maladaptive behaviors may occur within the individual's social support network.

Objectives: The aim of this article is to investigate the role of social network support in ameliorating the psychological impact of life stressors that are prevalent for the older Puerto Rican population. Method: Social support was measured through the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire, and psychological distress through the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale. We describe the life stressors (Norbeck Life Events) faced by Puerto Ricans and their implications for psychological distress. We present associations between depression, perceived stress, social support, and socio-demographic indicators. The role of social network support–emotional and instrumental–in buffering the effect of negative events is examined. Attention is given to the interacting effect of gender and the type of support. Results: The analysis shows that dimensions of social support, particularly emotional support, are generally protective of psychological health. However, when delineating the moderating effects of gender, social support is beneficial for men, but manifestly less so for women. Emotional, tangible support and duration of social contacts show a moderate effect on the impact of life stressors on psychological distress which, however, is in a direction opposite to that proposed by the buffering hypothesis. Discussion: Social ties are generally protective, but may also be contributing, particularly for women, to increased psychological distress in the face of stressful life events.

Background: Studies of associations of social support with mortality among women diagnosed with breast cancer have been inconclusive. Further, there have been little study of related factors such as marital status, housing, and income, nor of differential impact by treatment received (chemotherapy, radiation, or hormonal therapy). Methods: Women with incident, pathologically confirmed invasive breast cancer, stage I-IV, answered a social support questionnaire data (n=1015) in a population-based study, the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) Study. Patients were queried regarding the number of their close friends, the number of people with whom they lived with, their income, education, and marital status. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for all-cause and breast cancer-specific mortality were estimated with Cox proportional hazards models. Associations were also examined within strata of treatment type received. Results: Median follow up time was 18.5 yrs, 449 died of which 279 deaths were from breast cancer. Out of 1015 patients, 98 patients reported 0-1 friends while 917 reported 2 or more friends. The crude association of social isolation, defined as reporting no or one close friend, was significantly associated with higher all-cause mortality with HR 1.57 (95% CI 1.19-2.07) (p=0.0014). Older age (62 yrs vs. 57 yrs), fewer years of education (12.5 yrs vs. 13.5 yrs), longer smoking history (17 pack years vs. 10.7 pack years), higher percentage of non-white population (15.3% vs. 7.52%), lower income (20.7% vs. 7.2%), living alone (45.9% vs. 21.9%), post-menopausal status (83.7% vs. 70.7%), lower receipt of chemotherapy (32.3% vs. 44.8%), higher receipt of hormone replacement therapy (43.9% vs. 37.0%), high blood pressure (53.6% vs. 33.8%), high blood cholesterol (45.8% vs. 34.1%), more likelihood of being divorced/separated, widowed, never married (20.8% v. 12.8%, 19.8% vs. 15.2%, 13.5% vs. 7.8%) were significantly associated with social isolation. After controlling for these variables, there was no association between social isolation and all-cause mortality, HR 1.14 (95% CI, 0.78-1.66). Being widowed (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.19-1.95), divorced/separated (HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.14-1.99), having lower income (HR 3.58, 95% CI, 1.89-6.77) and lower education (HR 1.07, 95% CI 1.03-1.12) were associated with higher all-cause mortality. In multivariable analyses, only lower income was associated with higher all-cause mortality (HR 2.44, 95% CI 1.16-5.14). There was no association of social isolation, marital status, income, education, or housing with breast cancer specific mortality. There were also no significant associations of marital status, income, social support, or housing with mortality within strata of treatment received. Conclusions: In this population-based study of women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, social support, measured as the number of friends the breast cancer patient could call on for assistance, was not associated with either all cause or breast cancer mortality. Higher income was associated with lower mortality. Our study focused on social networks; future studies should also analyze emotional domain of social support, that is, perceived social support: feeling encouraged, shared problem-solving etc., which have higher clinical relevance than structural support. Citation Format: Shipra Gandhi, Jing Nie, Archit Patel, Maurizio Trevisan, Kristopher Attwood, Jo L. Freudenheeim. Role of social isolation and support on all-cause and breast cancer specific mortality among women with breast cancer: The Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) Study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO2-25-08.

Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Research on Social Support and the Family: Conceptualizing and Assessing Social Support in the Context of the Family G.R. Pierce, et al. Information Processing Approaches to the Study of Family Relationship Schemas P.L. Yee, et al. Social Support in Marriage: A Cognitive Perspective S.R.H. Beach, et al. Social Support in Its Cultural Context P. Dilworth-Anderson, S. Marshall. The Role of Social Support in Family Relationships: The Neglected Links between Marital Support and Marital Satisfaction L.K. Acitelli. The Socialization of Emotional Support Skills in Childhood B.R. Burleson, A.W. Kunkel. Attachment, Social Competency, and the Capacity to Use Social Support H.M. Coble, et al. Social Support as a Determinant of Marital Quality: The Interplay of Negative and Supportive Behaviors C.E. Cutrona. Contemporary Processes in the Social Networks of Older Adults K. Rook, T.L. Schuster What Is Supportive about Social Support? On the Psychological Needs for Autonomy and Relatedness R.M. Ryan, J.A. Solkey. The Impact of Marital and Social Network Support on Quality of Parenting R.L. Simons, C. Johnson. The Mutual Influence of Family Support and Youth Adaptation C. Timko, R.H. Moos. Stress, Clinical Problems, and Support Needs for Families: The Relation of Family Support to Adolescents' Psychological Distress and Behavior Problems M. Barrera, Jr., S.A. Li. Social Support in Postdivorce Families I. Bretherton, et al. Social Support and Pregnancy C. Dunkel-Schetter. Social Support and Social Coping in Couples S.E. Hobfoll. Social Support and Preventive Therapeutic Interventions B. Lakey, C.J. Lutz. Family Stress and Social Support among Caregivers to Persons with Alzheimer's Disease K. Pillemer, J. Suitor. The Role of Attachment in Perceived Support and the Stress and Coping Process J.T. Ptacek. The Role of Family and Peer Relationships in Adolescent Substance Abuse T.A. Willis, et al. Index.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the well-being of people across all age groups, with children being particularly vulnerable due to their reliance on stable routines and social interactions for healthy development. Guided by stress-coping theory, this study examines the impact of life stressors and social support on children’s subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a large-scale, cross-national dataset of 20,047 children aged 7–15 from 20 societies, we assessed how various stressors and social support from friends, family, and teachers influenced indicators of subjective well-being, including life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, and negative affect. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that virus-related stressors and pandemic-induced disruptions negatively impacted children’s subjective well-being. Conversely, social support from family, friends, and teachers was generally associated with better well-being. However, the role of social support in moderating stress was complex: while support from friends buffered the adverse effects of stressors on life satisfaction and positive affect, family support sometimes amplified the negative impact of stressors, demonstrating a reverse buffering effect. These findings underscore the critical role of life stressors and social support in shaping children’s well-being during crises and highlight the need for targeted interventions to strengthen social connections and support systems.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding of factors that affect training effectiveness. According to the literature, social support, perceived content validity, transfer design, the motivation to improve work through learning and positive transfer, contribute to the effectiveness of training. Design/methodology/approach – The sample used consisted of 202 employees with ages between 18 and 60 years, working for an insurance company where they had training for a period of three months. Findings – The results show a relationship between perceived content validity and transfer design, as well as with the motivation to improve work through learning. A mediating role of social support was also evident in this relationship. Finally, the authors highlight the findings of the relationship between motivation to improve work through learning and positive transfer. Originality/value – These findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating how the role of social support can increase training effectiveness in organizations.

There is a growing recognition that social support can potentially exert consistent or opposing effects in influencing health behaviours. The present paper presents a cross-sectional study, including 2,064 adults from Italy, Spain and Greece, who were participants in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial (C4H study), aiming to examine whether social support is correlated with adherence to a healthy Mediterranean diet and physical activity. Social support data were available for 1,572 participants. The majority of the sample reported emotional support availability (84·5 %), financial support availability (72·6 %) and having one or more close friends (78·2 %). Mediterranean diet adherence was significantly associated with emotional support (P = 0·009) and social network support (P = 0·021). No statistically significant associations were found between participant physical activity and the social support aspects studied. In conclusion, emotional and social network support may be associated with increased adherence to the Mediterranean diet. However, further research is needed to evaluate the role of social support in adherence to healthy Mediterranean diet.

The rising prevalence of multimorbidity poses challenges to health systems globally. The objectives of this study were to investigate: 1) the association between multimorbidity and depressive symptoms; and 2) whether social support plays a protective role in this association. A prospective population-based cohort study was conducted to analyze baseline and 3-year follow-up data of 16,729 community dwelling participants aged 65 and above in the Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging (CLSA). Multimorbidity was defined as having three or more chronic conditions. The 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CESD-10) was used to measure depressive symptoms. The 19-item Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey was employed to assess perceived social support. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the association between multimorbidity, social support and depressive symptoms. Multimorbidity was very common among participants with a prevalence of 70.6%. Fifteen percent of participants had depressive symptoms at baseline. Multimorbidity was associated with increased odds of having depressive symptoms at 3-year follow-up (adjusted odds ratio, aOR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.33, 1.71), and developing depressive symptoms by follow-up among those with no depressive symptoms at baseline (aOR = 1.65, 95% CI 1.42, 1.92). Social support was consistently associated with decreased odds of depressive symptoms, regardless of level of multimorbidity. Multimorbidity was positively associated with depressive symptoms over time, but social support served as a protective factor. As a modifiable, protective factor, emphasis should be placed in clinical practice to assess social support and refer patients to appropriate services, such as support groups. Similarly, health policy should focus on ensuring that older adults have access to social support opportunities as a way to promote mental health among older adults. Community organizations that offer social activities or support groups play a key role in this respect and should be adequately supported (e.g., with funding).

Interoception dysfunction has an important impact on the onset and development of major depressive disorder (MDD). Social support serves as a protective factor against MDD, and sociability also plays a significant role in this condition. These interconnected constructs-social support and sociability-play pivotal roles in MDD. However, no research on the mechanisms underlying the associations between social support and sociability, particularly the potential role of interoception, have been reported. To investigate the mediating effect of interoception between social support and social ability and to explore the independent role of social support in sociability. The participants included 292 patients with MDD and 257 healthy controls (HCs). The patient health questionnaire 9, the multidimensional assessment of interoception awareness, version 2 (MAIA-2), the social support rating scale (SSRS), and the Texas social behavior inventory (TSBI) were used to assess depression, interoception, social support, and sociability, respectively. A mediation analysis model for the eight dimensions of interoception (noticing, not distracting, not worrying, attention regulation, emotional awareness, self-regulation, body listening, and trust), social support, and sociability were established to evaluate the mediating effects. A partial correlation analysis of eight dimensions of the MAIA-2, SSRS, and TSBI scores, with demographic data as control variables, revealed pairwise correlations between the SSRS score and both the MAIA-2 score and TSBI score. In the major depression (MD) group, the SSRS score had a positive direct effect on the TSBI score, while the scores for body listening, emotional awareness, self-regulation, and trust in the MAIA-2C had indirect effects on the TSBI score. In the HC group, the SSRS score had a positive direct effect on the TSBI score, and the scores for attention regulation, emotional awareness, self-regulation, and trust in the MAIA-2C had indirect effects on the TSBI score. The proportion of mediators in the MD group was lower than that in the HC group. Interoceptive awareness is a mediating factor in the association between social support and sociability in both HCs and depressed patients. Training in interoceptive awareness might not only help improve emotional regulation in depressed patients but also enhance their social skills and support networks.

This study examined the role of instrumentality, expressivity, satisfaction with social support, and size of the social network in predicting problem-solving appraisal in both male and female college students. Two-hundred fifteen primarily white undergraduates (137 female, 78 male) completed the Problem Solving Inventory, Social Support Inventory, Personal Attribute Questionnaire, and Social Network. Simultaneous regression analyses revealed that for both men and women, instrumentality was related to all three factors of the PSI, and expressivity was related to approaching problems. Satisfaction with social support, however, was related to different PSI factors for men and women. As more information is acquired about how men and women each learn gender-related traits and obtain various problem-solving skills, we will be able to assist people in acquiring new perspectives and adaptive problem-solving activities.

ObjectivesLimited and inconsistent findings have been reported on the link between social connections and support and emergency department (ED) visits in older populations. Moreover, the adequacy of informal care for older adults has rarely been considered. This study explored the associations of social connections, social support, and informal care with ED visits in younger-old (<78 years) and oldest-old (≥78 years) adults. MethodsThis is a prospective cohort study based on community-living adults ≥60 years old participating in the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (N=3066 at wave 1, 2001-2004; N=1885 at wave 3, 2007-2010; N=1208 at wave 5, 2013-2016). Standardised indexes were developed to measure social connections, social support, and informal care. The outcome variable was hospital-based ED visits within 4 years of the SNAC-K interview. Associations between exposure variables and ED visits were assessed through negative binomial regressions using generalised estimating equations. ResultsMedium (IRR 0.77; 95% CI 0.59–0.99) and high (IRR 0.77; 95% CI 0.56–0.99) levels of social support were negatively associated with ED visits compared to low levels of social support, but only in oldest-old adults. No statistically significant associations were observed between social connections and ED visits. Higher ED visit rates were seen in oldest-old adults with unmet informal care needs, even if the differences did not reach statistical significance. ConclusionsED visits were associated with social support levels among adults aged ≥78 years. Public health interventions to mitigate situations of poor social support may improve health outcomes and reduce avoidable ED visits in oldest-old adults.

Given the dearth of systematic research and inconclusive results regarding the effectiveness of emotional intelligence (EI) training in adult training, this study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of EI training. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of EI training on learning and transfer outcomes, considering underexplored moderation of social and organizational support with experimental and longitudinal research design. Training transfer was measured through changes in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Participants self-assessed their OCB and CWB levels, while their supervisors also provided evaluations, allowing for separate analysis. Data, from a sample comprising 176 government officials, were collected across different periods and analyzed employing diverse analytical tools. The results revealed positive effects of EI training on training outcomes in both samples but positive moderation effect of social and organizational support on the effect of EI training on training outcomes was observed in the self-evaluation sample but not in the supervisor evaluation sample. The findings advance the debate on social exchange theory and organizational support theory by showing the boundary condition of their applicability. Furthermore, this study clarifies the impact of EI training on training outcomes by emphasizing the nuanced role of social and organizational support.

Background and objective: Depression is a serious mental health condition experienced by bereaved earthquake survivors. It seems that distress tolerance, emotional self-regulation, and social support can be good predictors of depression. The present study aimed to determine the mediating role of social support in the relationship of distress tolerance and emotional self-regulation with depression. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population of this study included the survivors of the Kermanshah earthquake who were suffering from depression in Kermanshah, Iran, in 2019. The sample size was calculated at 384 subjects who were selected via the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using social support questionnaires, a distress tolerance questionnaire, Gross and John's Emotional Self-Regulation Questionnaire, and Beck depression inventory. Data were analyzed in two descriptive statistics sections using SPSS software (version 23) and inferential statistics using structural equation modeling in SMART PLS2 software. Results: The results of this study pointed out that the relationship between research variables is significant and distress tolerance, self-regulation, and social support can predict depression. Moreover, social support plays a mediating role in the relationship of distress tolerance and emotional self-regulation with depression. The quality of the measurement model was confirmed by the cv.com test, and the structural model was verified by the cv.red test. The effect factor of R2 variables is strong and according to the goodness of fit, the quality of the final model of the research was 0.586, indicating a strong fit of the model. Conclusion: As evidenced by the obtained results, it can be expected that post-earthquake depression can be reduced by the enhancement of distress tolerance, emotional self-regulation, and social support. Background and objective: Depression is a serious mental health condition experienced by bereaved earthquake survivors. It seems that distress tolerance, emotional self-regulation, and social support can be good predictors of depression. The present study aimed to determine the mediating role of social support in the relationship of distress tolerance and emotional self-regulation with depression. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population of this study included the survivors of the Kermanshah earthquake who were suffering from depression in Kermanshah, Iran, in 2019. The sample size was calculated at 384 subjects who were selected via the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using social support questionnaires, a distress tolerance questionnaire, Gross and John's Emotional Self-Regulation Questionnaire, and Beck depression inventory. Data were analyzed in two descriptive statistics sections using SPSS software (version 23) and inferential statistics using structural equation modeling in SMART PLS2 software. Results: The results of this study pointed out that the relationship between research variables is significant and distress tolerance, self-regulation, and social support can predict depression. Moreover, social support plays a mediating role in the relationship of distress tolerance and emotional self-regulation with depression. The quality of the measurement model was confirmed by the cv.com test, and the structural model was verified by the cv.red test. The effect factor of R2 variables is strong and according to the goodness of fit, the quality of the final model of the research was 0.586, indicating a strong fit of the model. Conclusion: As evidenced by the obtained results, it can be expected that post-earthquake depression can be reduced by the enhancement of distress tolerance, emotional self-regulation, and social support.