Is Emotional Support in the Aftermath of Collective Traumatic Events Beneficial? The Role of Collective Rumination

PurposeRecent studies have shown that perceived social support is associated with gratitude and sense of coherence, but evidence for this concept remains scarce. In the present study, we investigated relationships between social support, gratitude, and sense of coherence, focusing on the construct of and source of social support among young women.MethodsThe study was conducted in 2014 in Japan. Participants comprised 208 female university students (aged 19.9 ± 1.1 years), who completed a self-administered anonymous questionnaire regarding perceived social support, gratitude, and sense of coherence.ResultsEmotional and instrumental social support from acquaintances were found to be lower than those from family and friends. Gratitude was positively correlated with all forms of social support except instrumental social support from acquaintances. However, sense of coherence was positively correlated with both emotional and instrumental social support from family and only emotional social support from acquaintances. Multiple regression analysis showed that emotional support from family and emotional support from acquaintances were positively associated with gratitude whereas emotional support from family was associated with sense of coherence.ConclusionThese results indicate that emotional social support from family was related to both gratitude and sense of coherence.

University students with disabilities face an increased risk of experiencing negative implications in educational, psychological, and social spheres during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed at assessing various dimensions of social support and its sources during the COVID-19 pandemic that availed university students with disabilities. This cross-sectional descriptive study collected data from 53 university students with disabilities. We administered the Social Support Scale (SSC) to assess five dimensions: informational, emotional, esteem, social integration and tangible support, and access to social support from four sources: family, friends, teachers, and colleagues. Multiple regression analysis showed that university students with disabilities mainly relied upon their friends for informational support (β = 0.64; p < 0.001), emotional support (β = 0.52; p < 0.001), and social integration support (β = 0.57; p < 0.001). Family members (β = 0.406; p < 0.01) and colleagues (β = 0.36; p < 0.01) provided esteem support to students with disabilities. Support from teachers demonstrated an association with informational support (β = 0.24; p < 0.05). The findings from the current study suggest that students with disabilities primarily sought informational, emotional, and social integration support from their peers. Although teachers were the primary source of informational support, emotional and esteem support were not found to be significantly associated with them. These findings necessitate exploring the underlying factors and how to enhance them during unusual circumstances such as online distance education and social distancing.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic can be recognized as a traumatic event that led to stressors, resulting in trauma or distress among the general population. Social support is vital in the management of these stressors, especially during a traumatic event, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the limited face-to-face interactions enforced by physical distancing regulations during the pandemic, people sought solace on social media platforms to connect with, and receive support from, one another. Hence, it is crucial to investigate the ways in which people seek and offer support on social media for mental health management.ObjectiveThe research aimed to examine the types of social support (eg, emotional, informational, instrumental, and appraisal) sought and provided for trauma or distress on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, this study aimed to gain insight into the difficulties and concerns of people during the pandemic by identifying the associations between terms representing the topics of interest related to trauma or distress and their corresponding sentiments.MethodsThe study methods included content analysis to investigate the type of social support people sought for trauma or distress during the pandemic. Sentiment analysis was also performed to track the negative and positive sentiment tweets posted between January 1, 2020, and March 15, 2021. Association rule mining was used to uncover associations between terms and sentiments in tweets. In addition, the research used Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests to determine whether the retweet count and like count varied based on the social support type.ResultsMost Twitter users who indicated trauma or distress sought emotional support. Regarding sentiment, Twitter users mostly posted negative sentiment tweets, particularly in January 2021. An intriguing observation was that wearing masks could trigger and exacerbate trauma or distress. The results revealed that people mostly sought and provided emotional support on Twitter regarding difficulties with wearing masks, mental health status, financial hardships, and treatment methods for trauma or distress. In addition, tweets regarding emotional support received the most endorsements from other users, highlighting the critical role of social support in fostering a sense of community and reducing the feelings of isolation during the pandemic.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the potential of social media as a platform to exchange social support during challenging times and to identify the specific concerns (eg, wearing masks and exacerbated symptoms) of individuals with self-reported trauma or distress. The findings provide insights into the types of support that were most beneficial for those struggling with trauma or distress during the pandemic and may inform policy makers and health organizations regarding better practices for pandemic response and special considerations for groups with a history of trauma or distress.

Objective:Social support may protect against Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), potentially through emotional or instrumental support elements. Black and Hispanic/Latinx older adults bear a disproportionate burden of ADRD. However, independent effects of emotional and instrumental support on cognition, a primary indicator of ADRD risk, are largely understudied in these groups. Guided by the differential vulnerability hypothesis – the theoretical framework which posits that systemic racism disadvantages Black and Hispanic/Latinx individuals’ health – we hypothesize that emotional and instrumental support may be particularly important to protect against worse cognition for Black and Hispanic/Latinx older adults, who often have fewer resources due to these inequalities (e.g., wealth, educational opportunities) to otherwise maintain health. Using the NIH Toolbox Emotion Module measures of emotional (e.g., the extent to which individuals can rely on others in challenging times) and instrumental support (e.g., the extent to which individuals can rely on others for assistance in daily activities), we aimed to identify positive social support factors (i.e., emotional and instrumental support) that may protect against ADRD risk (i.e., longitudinal executive function and memory performance) among Black and Hispanic/Latinx older adults.Participants and Methods:Participants were 362 Black and 265 Hispanic/Latinx adults aged 65-89 (63% female, average age=75) from the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) Study who completed baseline and up to two additional waves of assessments (every 1.5 years), including questionnaires, neuropsychological evaluations, and the NIH toolbox. Predictors included baseline covariates (i.e., age, language of test administration, gender, education, income, self-rated health) and NIH toolbox emotional and instrumental support variables. Outcomes were baseline and longitudinal memory (visual and verbal episodic memory) and executive functioning (verbal fluency and working memory) composites from the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales (SENAS). Latent growth curve models were conducted separately in Black and Hispanic/Latinx participants to estimate effects of emotional and instrumental support on baseline cognition and subsequent change in each domain.Results:Black participants reported greater emotional support. There were no group differences in levels of instrumental support. Greater instrumental support was associated with better initial memory (standardized β= .194, 95%CI: [.063, .325]) among Black participants but not among Hispanic/Latinx participants. In Hispanic/Latinx participants, greater emotional support was associated with better initial executive functioning (standardized β= .215, 95%CI: [.079, .350]. Emotional support was not associated with either cognitive domain in Black participants. There were no associations between emotional or instrumental support on cognitive change in either group.Conclusions:Results point to differences between Black and Hispanic/Latinx older adults in the impact of specific aspects of social support on different cognitive domains. Positive associations between instrumental support and baseline memory in Black participants and between emotional support and executive functioning in Hispanic/Latinx participants suggest unique cognitive consequences of social support across groups. Differences in the role of specific types of social supports may be useful in identifying intervention targets specifically for Black and Hispanic/Latinx older adults, who are disproportionately affected by ADRD. Future research will examine these constructs using multiple group models to test these associations more rigorously.

Received social support is considered important for health-enhancing exercise participation. The enabling hypothesis of social support suggests an indirect association of social support and exercising via constructs of self-regulation, such as self-efficacy. This study aimed at examining an expanded enabling hypothesis by examining effects of different kinds of social support (i.e., emotional and instrumental) on exercising not only via self-efficacy but also via self-monitoring and action planning. An 8-week online study was conducted. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. The intervention comprised finding and then exercising regularly with a new exercise companion. Intervention and control group effects were compared by a manifest multigroup model. Received emotional social support predicted self-efficacy, self-monitoring, and action planning in the intervention group. Moreover, received emotional social support was indirectly connected with exercise via the examined mediators. The indirect effect from received emotional social support via self-efficacy mainly contributed to the total effect. No direct or indirect effect of received instrumental social support on exercise emerged. In the control group, neither emotional nor instrumental social support was associated with any of the self-regulation constructs nor with exercise. Actively looking for a new exercise companion and exercising together seems to be beneficial for the promotion of received emotional and instrumental social support. Emotional support in turn promotes exercise by enabling better self-regulation, in particular self-efficacy. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? With the 'enabling hypothesis', Benight and Bandura (2004, Behav. Res. Ther., 42, 1129) claimed that social support indirectly affects behaviour via self-efficacy. Research in the domain of physical exercise has provided evidence for this enabling hypothesis on a correlational basis only preventing causal inferences. What does this study add? We found evidence for the enabling hypothesis of received social support via self-efficacy on physical exercise in an intervention study. Moreover, this study demonstrated the distinct contribution of received emotional and instrumental social support in the context of the enabling hypothesis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a burden on the health of many people, including significant disparities in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. This study examines the associations between coping behaviors, social support, and emotional health among American Indian and Alaska Native peoples during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study included survey data collected from November 2021 to May 2022 from American Indian and Alaska Native adults aged 18 years or older without dementia or other serious cognitive impairments who were seen at 6 urban health organizations primarily in urban settings (in New Mexico, Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, and Kansas) in the year prior to the survey. Exposures of interest included avoidant and direct problem-solving coping behaviors and functional and emotional social support. The study outcome was self-reported change in emotional health since COVID-19 pandemic onset. Poisson regression was used to model adjusted multivariate associations. Data were weighted to account for age, nonresponse, and disproportionate representation by clinic population. A total of 1164 participants were included in the analysis, with a mean (SD) age of 42.5 (13.4) years; 830 (61%, weighted sample percentage) were female. Since COVID-19 pandemic onset, 465 patients (39% weighted) reported worsened emotional health. Problem-solving coping mean (SD) utilization score was 2.5 (0.5), avoidant coping mean (SD) utilization score was 2.3 (0.5), mean (SD) functional social support score was 11.4 (2.9), and 219 participants (18% weighted) reported that emotional support was always available. Using problem-solving coping skills was associated with better emotional health (adjusted prevalence ratio [APR], 0.66 [95% CI, 0.54-0.81] for highest vs lowest tertile), as was always (vs never or rarely) getting emotional support (APR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.30-0.55) and having more functional support (APR, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.87-0.92] per 1-unit increase in functional social support). In examination of psychological resilience potentially modifying primary exposure associations, no interactions were statistically significant. In this cross-sectional study of urban American Indian and Alaska Native peoples, problem-solving coping skills and more social support were associated with better emotional health during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings can be used to identify strengths-based approaches to support community emotional health during social upheavals.

Objective This study aims to examine the experiences and meanings attached to grandparenting among Israeli Jewish grandparents in the aftermath of the October 7 terror attack on Israel and the ensuing war. Background Traumatic events can disrupt intergenerational relationships, yet grandparents often play a crucial role in providing emotional and practical support. Despite this, relatively little is known about grandparents' adaptation to their roles during a collective trauma. Method Semistructured interviews with 21 Israeli Jewish grandparents (aged 40–73) to grandchildren up to 10 years old, were conducted 2 to 4 weeks after the terror attack. Thematic analysis was performed. Results Four themes emerged, reflecting grandparents' perceptions of their roles: cognitive commitment and its costs; emotional engagement; symbolic dimensions of repair and continuity; and active behavioral involvement. These dimensions were found to fit the cognitive, emotional, symbolic, and behavioral dimensions of the multidimensional experience of grandparenthood model. Grandparenthood dimensions seem to expand during the war, as grandparents took on enhanced roles to ensure stability, safety, and resilience for their grandchildren. Conclusion Grandparents' roles extended beyond traditional boundaries, emphasizing their centrality in family resilience during collective trauma. Implications The findings highlight grandparents' adaptability and resilience during collective traumatic events. Integrating grandparents into family and community support systems can enhance familial resilience in times of crisis.

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

Effect of Social Support on Caregiver's Functional Disability Due to Spouse's Functional Disability

Globally, the number of older people living with HIV (PLH) is growing. Additionally, older PLH are facing particular challenges related to accessing health care. The objective of this study is to investigate the older PLH's access to care and its relationship to emotional and tangible social support. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 225 PLH who were 50 years of age or older in Anhui, China. A computer-assisted personal interview was used to collect the participants' demographic characteristics, perceived health status, and access to care. The following two dimensions of social support were measured: emotional support and tangible support. The association between emotional/tangible support and access to care was calculated using Pearson's/point-biserial correlations and with multiple linear regression. Higher tangible support was reported by the participants who were married or living with a partner, those who had higher annual income levels, and those with better perceived health status. Emotional support was correlated with higher education, higher income, and better perceived health status. Multiple regression analyses showed that access to care was significantly associated with emotional support (β = 0.2807, p < 0.0001) but not with tangible support (β = -0.0183, p = 0.7922). The study findings point to the importance of providing emotional support for older PLH. It is suggested that emotional support should be provided for older PLH in addition to tangible assistance, in order to engage them in treatment and care.

Social support has been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It has been suggested that the protective effect of social support is mediated through the autonomic nervous system and/or unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, but data are sparse, especially in diverse populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate possible pathways through which social support may reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Baseline data from The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Intervention Trial for Heart Health were included in this analysis (N = 501, mean age 48 +/- 13 years, 66% female, 36% nonwhite). Social support was calculated using the Enhancing Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease Patients Social Support Instrument, a validated tool measuring emotional and instrumental support. Emotional support is defined as the belief that one is cared about (high = score > or = 18); instrumental social support is defined as help with services (high = score > or = 3). Demographics, physical activity, and diet were assessed by standardized questionnaires, and cardiovascular disease risk factors were measured systematically. Linear regression models were adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, sex, marital status, and education. Higher instrumental social support was positively associated with minutes of physical activity per week (P = .007). Higher emotional social support was positively associated with number of days of physical activity per week (P = .023), number of servings of wine per week (P = .007), and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = .014). A mediational analysis was performed, and the relationship between emotional social support and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was significantly attenuated by physical activity days per week and number of servings of wine per week. No significant associations were found for other potential mediators tested including body mass index, waist circumference, and intake of omega-3 fatty acids, beer, or liquor. In this ethnically diverse population, emotional social support was linked to higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels through increased physical activity and wine intake, suggesting possible mechanisms through which social support may reduce cardiovascular disease risk.

BackgroundShorter breastfeeding duration is associated with detrimental consequences for infant health/development and maternal health. Previous studies suggest social support is essential in maintaining breast/chest-feeding and helping to improve general infant feeding experiences. Public health bodies therefore work to support breastfeeding in the UK, yet UK breastfeeding rates continue to be one of the lowest globally. With this, a better understanding of the effectiveness and quality of infant feeding support is required. In the UK, health visitors (community public health nurses specialising in working with families with a child aged 0–5 years) have been positioned as one of the key providers of breast/chest-feeding support. Research evidence suggests that both inadequate informational support and poor/negative emotional support can lead to poor breastfeeding experiences and early breastfeeding cessation. Thus, this study tests the hypothesis that emotional support from health visitors moderates the relationship between informational support and breastfeeding duration/infant feeding experience among UK mothers.MethodsWe ran cox and binary logistic regression models on data from 565 UK mothers, collected as part of a 2017–2018 retrospective online survey on social support and infant feeding.ResultsInformational support, compared to emotional support, was a less important predictor of both breastfeeding duration and experience. Supportive emotional support with unhelpful or absent informational support was associated with the lowest hazard of breastfeeding cessation before 3 months. Results for breastfeeding experience followed similar trends, where positive experience was associated with supportive emotional and unhelpful informational support. Negative experiences were less consistent; however, a higher probability of negative experience was found when both types of support were reported as unsupportive.ConclusionsOur findings point to the importance of health visitors providing emotional support to bolster the continuation of breastfeeding and encourage a positive subjective experience of infant feeding. The emphasis of emotional support in our results encourages increased allocation of resources and training opportunities to ensure health visitors are able to provide enhanced emotional support. Lowering health visitors caseloads to allow for personalised care is just one actionable example that may improve breastfeeding outcomes in the UK.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Maternal Social Support and Relationship to Mother-Infant Health Behaviors.

&lt;p&gt;Different researchers prioritise different conversational processes as core to our relationships and our wellbeing. Two such processes are social reminiscing and emotional support. Social reminiscing and emotional support share conceptual and functional similarities, but previous research has not systematically compared them. Could they be the same? This thesis sought to disentangle social reminiscing from emotional support in several ways. In Chapter 2, participants imagined stressful scenarios (Study 1, N = 381) or recalled stressful and happy past events (Study 2, N = 380), and reported on the social reminiscing and emotional support that they desired (Study 1) or received (Study 2) from their conversation partner. Study 1’s results indicated that social reminiscing and emotional support are statistically distinct processes: People desired more reminiscing when they felt closer to the support provider, but desired consistently high levels of emotional support, regardless of how close they felt to the support provider. Study 2 produced more mixed results, finding no evidence that closeness changed how much reminiscing or emotional support was recalled in real life. Chapter 3 developed and validated a dyadic observational coding scheme for social reminiscing with a sample of people who discussed past events (a memory-directed context; Study 3, N = 51 dyads) and a sample of romantic partners who discussed future goals (i.e., a support-directed context; Study 4, N = 100 dyads). Results provided further evidence that social reminiscing and emotional support are distinct processes that work in tandem within a conversation. Finally, Chapter 4 included an observational study (N = 66 dyads) which examined the links between people’s depressive symptoms, dyadic patterns of social reminiscing and emotional support in conversations, and relational wellbeing. No evidence emerged linking depressive symptoms with patterns of social reminiscing and emotional support. However, discriminant findings indicated that social reminiscing predicted greater satisfaction with the conversation, but not perceived partner responsiveness. Conversely, emotional support predicted greater perceived partner responsiveness, but not satisfaction. Altogether, this thesis presents the first evidence that social reminiscing and emotional support can be statistically distinguished and are each a unique feature of conversations. Practically, this research suggests that in a real-world conversation, people respond qualitatively differently to past-tense and present-tense emotions. More inter-disciplinary work between relationship scientists and autobiographical memory researchers will be fruitful because their different theories are complementary.&lt;/p&gt;

Statistical data show that one in five adults of the European citizen suffer from some type of chronic pain. One of the most common types of chronic pain is chronic low back and neck pain. Emotional factors are currently viewed as important determinants in pain perception and behaviour. The perceived social and emotional support have impact to the individual’s adaptation to chronic disease (Cohen, Wills, 1985). The material: 110 chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients (48 male and 62 female; in age from 24 to 60 years, mean: 44.2±8, 0) and pilot study of 23 chronic neck pain (CNP) patients (19 female and 4 male; in age from 35 to 60 years, mean: 48, 1 ±6. The assessment methods: structured interview; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). SF-36 ® Health Survey: assessment of emotional and social support. Results and conclusions: CLBP patients in presence of symptoms of depression and elevated level of anxiety matched for socio-demographic features had less sense of social support and marked pain impact to daily activities, lower self rating health relating quality of life. In CLBP patients the sense of social and emotional support had relevant interaction with level of participation in daily activities both in patients with and without mental health problems. This fact has to be considered in process of rehabilitation and in managing of health care of CLBP patients. The results of CNP patients pilot study revealed interesting trend that chronic back and neck pain patients seems to be quite different according to sense of social and emotional support, therefore sense of social and emotional support in different chronic pain patients need further research to improve the process and results of rehabilitation in these patients.