Social Support Affect Research Articles

Analyzing the relationships among psychosocial variables associated with resilience

Potentially Traumatic Events (PTEs) are common in current society, including college life. When exposed to PTE, stress reactions are greatly heterogeneous, and what contributes to psychological resilience is not well known. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationships among the antecedents, defining attributes, and consequences of resilience in a sample of 450 college students. Students completed an online questionnaire about PTEs, ego-resiliency, emotion regulation strategies and flexibility, perceived social support, mental health outcomes, and Sense of Coherence (SOC). The majority were young (average age = 20.4 years), White/Caucasian (80.0 %), and single (98.0 %) females (79.3 %). First, the bivariate correlation analyses indicated PTEs and emotion regulation suppression were negatively associated with some but not all variables at a significant level. Second, simple linear regression indicated the number of PTEs significantly predicted negative mental health outcomes (β = −2.98, t = −0.63, p < .001) and SOC (β = −2.05, t = −5.69, p < .001). Third, multiple regression analysis revealed that social support significantly moderated the relationship between PTEs and mental health outcomes, F (14, 382) = 14.13, p < .001. More specifically, perceived affectionate social support moderated the relationship between PTEs and mental health outcomes among women. Nurses may deliver interventions to promote these resilience factors, such as social support, and the results suggest that young women may benefit more from perceived affectionate social support after being exposed to PTEs. Further studies, ideally with a longitudinal design, are needed to understand resilience in this population more deeply.

Prevalence of Four Types of Social Support and Their Relation to Mental Health among low-income U.S. Veterans: Implications for Community Health.

To provide a comprehensive examination of different types of social support and associations with mental health among U.S. military veterans, a group vulnerable to psychosocial dysfunction. Using a nationally representative sample of 1,004 low-income U.S. veterans, this study examined the prevalence and mental health correlates of emotional, informational/tangible, positive social interaction, and affectionate social support. In the sample,49-60%of participants perceived the four types of social support "most of the time" with the lowest prevalence being positive social interaction and the highest being affectionate support. Multivariable analyses found higher levels of all four types of social support were significantly associated with being married and greater mental health functioning. Some types of social support were uniquely associated with income level and positive screens for specific psychiatric disorders. Low social support is common among low-income U.S. veterans, and there is a need for community health interventions that target different types of social support to improve mental health and community integration.

Neurobehavioral Mechanisms Influencing the Association Between Generativity, the Desire to Promote Well-Being of Younger Generations, and Purpose in Life in Older Adults at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease.

Generativity, the desire and action to improve the well-being of younger generations, is associated with purpose in life among older adults. However, the neurobehavioral factors supporting the relationship between generativity and purpose in life remain unknown. This study aims to identify the functional neuroanatomy of generativity and mechanisms linking generativity with purpose in life in at-risk older adults. Fifty-eight older adults (mean age = 70.8, SD = 5.03, 45 females) with a family history of Alzheimer's disease (AD) were recruited from the PREVENT-AD cohort. Participants underwent brain imaging and completed questionnaires assessing generativity, social support, and purpose in life. Mediation models examined whether social support mediated the association between generativity and purpose in life. Seed-to-voxel analyses investigated the association between generativity and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and ventral striatum (VS), and whether this rsFC moderated the relationship between generativity and purpose in life. Affectionate social support mediated the association between generative desire and purpose in life. Generative desire was associated with rsFC between VS and precuneus, and, vmPFC and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rdlPFC). The vmPFC-rdlPFC rsFC moderated the association between generative desire and purpose in life. These findings provide insight into how the brain supports complex social behavior and, separately, purpose in life in at-risk aging. Affectionate social support may be a putative target process to enhance purpose in life in older adults. This knowledge contributes to future developments of personalized interventions that promote healthy aging.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT AND SELF-EFFICACY ON HOPEFULNESS IN LOW-INCOME OLDER ADULTS AGED 50 AND OVER

Abstract Background Social support and self-efficacy play a significant role in improving positive psychological well-being in marginalized older adults. However, to date, there are few studies on identifying the relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the effect of social support and self-efficacy on hopefulness in marginalized low-income older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This study used baseline data from a clinical trial designed to increase COVID-19 testing in Essex County, NJ. The dataset involved participants aged 50 and over. We conducted: 1) cross-sectional descriptive/frequency statistics to understand the sociodemographic characteristics, 2) multivariate linear regression to investigate the direct relationships between social support subscales or self-efficacy and hopefulness, and 3) mediation analyses to examine the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between social support and hopefulness. Results After adjusting for covariate variables, social support subscales (emotional/informational social support: b = 0.20, p &amp;lt; 0.05; tangible social support: b = 0.13, p &amp;lt; 0.05; affectionate social support: b = 0.17, p &amp;lt; 0.05; positive social interaction social support: b = 0.15, p &amp;lt; 0.05) and self-efficacy (b = 0.55, p &amp;lt; 0.001) were significantly associated with hopefulness. The indirect effect of social support via self-efficacy was positive and statistically significant (Effect = 0.14, Bootse = 0.04, BootLLCI - BootULCI = 0.06 - 0.23) Conclusion Self-efficacy mediated the relationship between social support and hopefulness in marginalized older adults aged 50 and over. Further research needs to identify the various facets of positive psychological well-being using longitudinal data and larger sample size.

Autism diagnosis experience and parental stress among Portuguese parents

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact that diagnostic factors such as duration of diagnostic period, number of professionals consulted and perceived social support have on parental stress during the diagnostic process of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Design/methodology/approachForty parents of 2–18 year-old children/adolescents with a formal ASD diagnosis recruited from five specialized private clinics in Lisbon completed a survey which included diagnostic questionnaire, parental stress scale and social support scale from April to December 2022.FindingsData analysis indicated that the mean age of the diagnosis was 5.6 years with a delay of 3.95 years from first concern until final diagnosis. On average, parents consulted a mean of 3.62 professionals. Other findings indicated that as age of parents increased, levels of parental stress decreased. Parents with higher levels of social support had lower levels of parental stress. Furthermore, higher age of child at first concern predicted higher affective social support.Originality/valueThis study reflects on the experience of obtaining the ASD diagnosis in Portugal, raising awareness on the importance of providing early detection and social support for distressed parents.

ADHERENCE TO TREATMENT IN HYPERTENSIVE ADULTS: RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCIAL SUPPORT, ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

Objective: This study examined the relationship between Social Support (SS) Anxiety (A) Depressión (D) with adherence to treatment (AT) in hypertensive adults. Design and method: There were 1582 hypertensive adults, males (n = 404) and females (n = 1178), age mean = 72 years, (SD = 12, 57). The Morisky–Green test evaluated compliant and non-compliant, DUKE test evaluated affective social support (ASS) and confidential social support (CSS), Zung Anxiety scale: Minimum anxiety (MiA), Moderate anxiety MoA) and Severe anxiety (SeA) and Zung Depression scale: Non depression (NoD) Minimum Depression (MiD) and Moderate- Severe Depression (MosD), all applied in one day doctor's visit. Results: The means and standard deviations for Systolic Blood Pressure of hypertensive adults was: 158,91 ± 29,82; for Diastolic Blood Pressure of hypertensive adults was 74,43 ± 12,79. Hypertensive adults compliant 20,3% and hypertensive adults non-compliant 79,7%. Good ASS support was 4.1%; bad ASS was 95.9%. Good CSS was 3.4% and 96.6% for bad CSS. MiA 35.6%; MoA 30% and SeA 34.4%. NoD 29.3%; MiD 63.7% and MosD 7%. The Rho Spearman correlation showed a significant correlation between AT and ASS (Rho Spearman: r = ,120**/ p = ,000); AT and CSS (Rho Spearman: r = ,113**/ p = ,000); AT and A (Rho Spearman: r = ,141**/ p = ,000); AT and D (Rho Spearman: r = ,132**/ p = ,000). Conclusions: The results provide evidence of a relationship between AT and ASS, CSS, A, D in hypertensive adults, indicating that social support and mood are important variables that must be evaluated when measuring adherence to treatment and seeking strategies to improve them.

Production and reception of human resource management practices for health promotion.

Organizations thrive when there is a healthy relationship between people, i.e., where there is high social capital. Human resource management practices (HRMP) contribute to promoting social capital and mental health in organizations. However, there remains a gap in the literature on practices to promote mental health, as well as on the difference in perception of the function of the practices between those who promote them and those who receive them. Thus, this study aimed to identify what HRMP oriented toward mental health promotions are, how they are perceived, and whether there is variation among these perceptions. Twenty managers and 11 subordinates were interviewed. To achieve the first two objectives, a content analysis was performed, and for the last, a lexical analysis. In the content analysis, the following categories emerged for both groups: work organization and idiosyncratic deals and affective social support. Only in the managers did the categories of informational support, communication, and maintaining good interpersonal relationships emerge. The lexical analysis suggested that managers perceive task-related practices as promoting mental health, while teams attribute importance to affective social support practices. HRMP psychological principles were described. Social support practices should be adopted as human resource protective strategies for mental health.

The Long-Term Efficacy of "Social Buffering" in Artificial Social Agents: Contextual Affective Perception Matters.

In dynamic (social) environments, an affective state of “stress” can be adaptive and promote agent wellbeing, but maladaptive if not appropriately regulated. The presence of (and interactions with) affect-based social support has been hypothesised to provide mechanisms to regulate stress (the “social buffering” hypothesis), though the precise, underlying mechanisms are still unclear. However, the hormone oxytocin has been implicated in mediating these effects in at least two ways: by improving social appraisals and reducing the short-term release of stress hormones (i.e., cortisol), and adapting an agent’s long-term stress tolerance. These effects likely facilitate an agent’s long-term adaptive ability by grounding their physiological and behavioural adaptation in the (affective) social environment, though these effects also appear to be context-dependent. In this paper, we investigate whether two of the hypothesised hormonal mechanisms that underpin the “social buffering” phenomenon affect the long-term wellbeing of (artificial) social agents who share affective social bonds, across numerous social and physical environmental contexts. Building on previous findings, we hypothesise that “social buffering” effects can improve the long-term wellbeing of agents who share affective social bonds in dynamic environments, through regular prosocial interactions with social bond partners. We model some of the effects associated with oxytocin and cortisol that underpin these hypothesised mechanisms in our biologically-inspired, socially-adaptive agent model, and conduct our investigation in a small society of artificial agents whose goal is to survive in challenging environments. Our results find that, while stress can be adaptive and regulated through affective social support, long-term behavioural and physiological adaptation is determined by the contextual perception of affective social bonds, which is influenced by early-stage interactions between affective social bond partners as well as the degree of the physical and social challenges. We also show how these low-level effects associated with oxytocin and cortisol can be used as “biomarkers” of social support and environmental stress. For socially-situated artificial agents, we suggest that these “social buffering” mechanisms can adapt the (adaptive) stress mechanisms, but that the long-term efficacy of this adaptation is related to the temporal dynamics of social interactions and the contextual perception of the affective social and physical environments.

Social support acquisition in online health communities: a social capital perspective

PurposeThe authors empirically examined social capital factors affecting patients' social support acquisition with the aim of providing guidance to patients seeking social support online.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used social network analysis to extract data about social capital factors from online health communities and text mining to identify forms of informational support and emotional support grounded in online, text-based communication. Moreover, the authors employed a random coefficient model to understand the dynamic influence of social capital factors on both informational and emotional support.FindingsThe results from the empirical analyses show that structural connections have a lasting impact on the acquisition of both types of support; that is, social connections developed in the past will have an effect on the future. For relational capital, strong ties were less important; the quantity of connections mattered more than the quality when acquiring informational support. The use of health-related language increased the amount of informational support acquired. Over time, patients gained increasing social support, which primarily came from the patients' historical threads, likely via searches from peers facilitated by accumulated social capital.Originality/valueThe authors' research adds to the literature on social capital and social support in online health communities by exploring how the three dimensions of social capital affect social support acquisition. The authors' research also contributes to the online health care literature by examining social support from a dynamic perspective. Practically, the authors' findings provide guidance for patients on what decisions to make to acquire more social support.

135 Characterizing Autism Stigma in the Latinx Community: Impacts and Implications

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Stigma may be a barrier to care for Latinx children with autism, given lasting effects on individuals and families in other disorders. No study has explored autism stigma and its effect in this group. We explore the Latinx community’s beliefs and stigmatizing attitudes towards and the effect of stigma on Latinx individuals with autism and their family. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Approximately 30 Latinx parents of typically-developing children recruited from Portland, Oregon and Birmingham, Alabama will complete a 60-90 minute interview and demographics questionnaire in Spanish. Participants will receive $50 for completion of the study. Using a phenomenological approach, a coding framework will be developed for the qualitative interview data. Structural coding will establish a set of predetermined codes that characterize the data generally. An emergent coding approach will be used to create new codes exploring each predetermined global characterization more precisely. Interviews and coding will cease when thematic saturation is achieved. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Research exploring perspectives of parents of children with autism has suggested that autism stigma is high in the Latinx population and results in social isolation. However, results regarding developmental disability stigma in the general Latinx population have shown low rates of reported stigma. This suggests: 1.) stigma is not as high as reported by parents of children with autism, 2.) those perpetuating stigma are not reporting it explicitly on quantitative measures, and/or 3.) those perpetuating stigma are not aware that these attitudes are stigmatizing. A qualitative approach allows for a better characterization of this understudied phenomenon and explores the disconnect between the stigmatized and the stigmatizing. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: By answering: “How do Latinx community members view autism?” and “How does stigma affect social support?” we open avenues for research, including: utilizing collectivistic culture in linguistically- and culturally-sensitive ways to spread knowledge of autism, provide social support for families, and increase inclusivity.

The psychological status of resident doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with resilience and social support: A cross-sectional study

CONTEXT: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the psychological status of frontline medical professionals who constantly work under stressful situations. The role of social support and resilience in safeguarding the mental health of resident doctors, is an area, which has not received due attention.AIMS: To assess the psychological status (depression, anxiety, and fear of COVID-19) and its association with resilience and perceived social support in resident doctors during COVID-19 pandemic.SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among the resident doctors in a tertiary hospital in Kochi, Kerala.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A web-based survey created using Google forms was sent via social media groups to the resident doctors of a teaching hospital in Kochi between August to September 2020. Two hundred completed responses were obtained. Study tools included a sociodemographic proforma, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale-7, Fear of COVID-19 scale, Brief Resilience Scale, and Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey.STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Psychological status (depression, anxiety, fear of COVID-19) was expressed using descriptive statistics; its association with sociodemographic variables using Chi-square test and its correlation with resilience and social support using Pearson correlation.RESULTS: Depression and anxiety were reported in 69% and 59.5% of the respondents, respectively. The mean fear of COVID-19 score was 24.06 (3.220). Resilience and overall social support index showed a significant negative correlation with depression and anxiety scores (P = 0.000). Emotional social support and affectionate social support showed a significant negative correlation with fear of COVID-19 (P = 0.040; P = 0.045, respectively).Conclusion: A large proportion of resident doctors were noted to have depression, anxiety, and fear of COVID-19. Individuals with higher levels of resilience and perceived social support had lesser levels of depression, anxiety, and fear of COVID-19.

The Relevance of Online Social Relationships Among the Elderly: How Using the Web Could Enhance Quality of Life?

This observational study analyzes the impact of Internet use on the quality of life and well-being of the elderly. Specifically, it seeks to understand and clarify the effects of Internet use on relationships in terms of self-esteem, life satisfaction, and Online and Offline Social Support in a sample of senior and elderly Italian people (over 60 years of age). A cohort of 271 elderly people (133 males and 138 females) aged between 60 and 94 years old participated in the study: 236 were Internet Users while the other 35 were Non-Internet Users. The results showed that the time elderly people spend online has a negative effect on their perception of Offline Social Support (Offline Emotional and Informational and Offline Affective Social Support) and a positive effect on their perception of Online Social Support (particularly on Online Positive Social Interactions). Surprisingly, Internet use among elderly people seems to positively affect the perception of Offline Social Support. Indeed, elderly Internet Users have a more positive perception of Offline Social Support (particularly Offline Positive Social Interactions and Offline Affective Social Support) than Non-Internet Users. A discussion of this finding is provided, positing that the Internet seems to represent the technological side of a functional organ that allows the elderly to stay in closer touch with their family and friends and in doing so to also overcome some age-related difficulties.

The mediated effects of social support in professional online communities on crowdworker engagement in micro-task crowdworking

Despite the growing popularity of crowdworking platforms, crowdworker engagement and its antecedents are still unexplored. This paper investigates how social support in professional crowdworking online communities affects worker engagement in micro-task crowdworking (MTCW). We know from organizational settings that social support is a central antecedent of work engagement, as it creates a sense of identification and enhances experienced meaningfulness of work, which in turn affects engagement. In MTCW this social antecedent is challenging as the work setting rarely provides workers with social support from requesters or platforms. However, workers frequently participate in professional crowdworking online communities that function as an alternative source of social support. So far, it remains unclear whether and how this type of social support contributes to crowdworker engagement. We argue that social support from professional crowdworking online communities enhances group identification among crowdworkers as well as experienced meaningfulness of doing crowdwork, thus fostering engagement. We conducted a two-wave survey with 181 micro-workers showing that affective social support in online communities enhances crowdworkers' identification and experienced meaningfulness, thereby indirectly affecting engagement in MTCW. We contribute to theory and practice on how to create positive work experiences on virtual platforms by highlighting the importance of professional online communities.

Factors Associated With Resilience Among Primary Caregivers of Patients With Advanced Cancer Within the First 6 Months Post-Treatment in Taiwan: A Cross-Sectional Study.

To identify factors associated with resilience in primary caregivers of patients with advanced oral cavity cancer within the first 6 months post-treatment. A cross-sectional study. We recruited patient-primary caregiver dyads from the outpatient radiation department of a medical center in Northern Taiwan. Patients were assessed using a set of structured questionnaires to measure performance status and demographic and clinical characteristics. Primary caregivers were measured in their social support, resilience, and care characteristics. Of the 148 dyads surveyed, 33.8% of primary caregivers reported moderately low to moderate resilience, and 61.5% reported low resilience. Greater resilience of primary caregivers was associated with the primary caregiver factors of younger age, lower educational level, and more affectionate social support; and greater resilience was associated with the patient factors of better performance status and older age. These factors explained 40.4% of the variance in resilience. Patients' performance status and primary caregivers' affectionate social support strongly influence overall resilience and each domain of resilience. Providing primary caregivers with sufficient social resources and a support group can help them cope with the demands of caregiving for loved ones with oral cavity cancer.

Terapia Antirretroviral: principais causas de abandono no estado do Amapá

Objetivo: Identificar causas de abandono a Terapia Antirretroviral (TARV) em pessoas vivendo com HIV/AIDS no estado do Amapá. Métodos: Estudo descritivo, documental, retrospectivo, com abordagem quantitativa, realizado no Serviço de Atendimento Especializado/Centro de Testagem e Aconselhamento (SAE/CTA), referência no estado do Amapá. Os dados foram obtidos em prontuários de indivíduos soropositivos admitidos no SAE/CTA de Macapá no período de Janeiro de 2017 a Julho de 2019 com registro superior a seis meses sem retirada da TARV. Resultados: Entre 228 prontuários selecionados, identificou-se predomínio do sexo masculino (64%), faixa etária entre 29 a 40 anos (38,2%), idade ao diagnóstico entre 21 a 31 anos (46,5%), procedentes da capital (74,1%), heterossexuais (48,7%), solteiros (53,1%) e inseridos no mercado formal (52, 6%). Quanto a caracterização clínica, não estavam gestantes (21,5%), não usavam drogas (55,3%), uso de TDF+3TC+DTG (59,7%). Sem troca de esquema inicial (73,7%) e (74,5%) com carga viral desatualizada. Identificou-se como causa de abandono ao tratamento, transtornos psiquiátricos (18%), ausência de suporte social afetivo (12,3%) e dificuldades para comparecer ao SAE (26%). Conclusão: identificar as causas de abandono possibilita elaborar planos de intervenção e construção de uma rede de cuidados com vistas a buscar alternativas para diminuir o abandono na sua gênese.

Psychosocial characteristics and affective symptomatology associated with patient self‐initiated consultations in Spanish general practice

We aimed to determine the sociodemographic and psychosocial profile, and the associated subclinical affective symptomatology of users above the 95th percentile in the distribution of patient self-initiated, face-to-face consultations. Additionally, we sought to determine the contribution of subclinical symptomatology in differentiating between the groups above or below this cut-off point. A total of 16,803 users who self-initiated at least one face-to-face consultation with a GP at any of 13 PHC practices over 1year, were eligible. After discarding those fulfilling exclusion criteria, 129 cases and 109 controls, matched by gender and age, answered the Family APGAR, the Duke-UNC and the Goldberg Anxiety-Depression scale. Both groups did not differ significantly on any of the sociodemographic and psychosocial variables recorded showing a similar percentage distribution. However, users with high self-initiated consultation rates obtained lower scores on the affective social support subscale from the Duke-UNC. Regarding Goldberg scale, the two groups differed significantly on the likelihood of displaying depression and/or anxiety symptoms. Users with a high probability of suffering from depression and/or anxiety were more prevalent among users on the top 5% in the distribution. Altogether, results indicate that these users report a lack of affective social support and have a higher probability of suffering from subclinical depression and/or anxiety. Early detection and treatment of affective symptomatology would temperate this excess in consultation. General practitioners, social workers and psychologists could act as gatekeepers, preventing this overuse of medical services and in turn lowering economical costs, professional burnout and patients' suffering and discontent.

Psychological and relational factors in ESRD hemodialysis treatment in an underserved community

ObjectiveThe researchers investigated the association of depression with treatment adherence, and examined the possible moderating roles of social support and of the physician-patient working alliance (PPWA) on treatment adherence, satisfaction with treatment, and quality of life. MethodsThe current study sampled ninety-five patients with End Stage Renal Disease who were receiving outpatient hemodialysis (HD) treatment. ResultsFindings indicated that higher levels of depression were significantly associated with lower ratings of adherence, quality of life, and social support. In contrast, higher levels of social support and of the PPWA were significantly associated with higher ratings of adherence, satisfaction with treatment, and quality of life. Analyses of moderation showed no effect for PPWA between depression and adherence, satisfaction, or quality of life; however, there was a significant moderation effect for social support. ConclusionThere are mild but significant associations between PPWA and social support. Positive associations between the PPWA and social support on adherence, satisfaction, and quality of life indicate that each one, PPWA and social support, plays its own role on patients’ experiences of and behavior in treatment. Affective social support significantly limits the negative influence of depression on adherence. Practice ImplicationsAssessment of depression and social support is essential in hemodialysis treatment.

Parents’ perceived social support and children’s psychological adjustment

SummaryPerceived social support has often been investigated due to its direct and indirect effects in reducing the impact of several risk factors on physical and psychological well-being. Moreover, many studies have revealed a link between social support and positive parenting, which in turn has an impact on children’s well-being. In Portugal, there is a significant lack of studies in this area. The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between parents’ perceived social support and children’s psychological adjustment. The sample consisted of 409 parents (83.13% mothers) living in the region of Algarve (South of Portugal). The Duke-UNC Functional Social Support and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires were used.FindingsThe results showed that, on average, families had a social support network of nine people, with a balanced presence of family ( M = 4.25, SD = 3.54) and friends ( M = 4.36, SD = 3.17). Parents reported medium-high levels of confidant and affective support, but instrumental support was lower. However, single-parent families, immigrant families, and divorced parents were found to be more socially isolated and received less support than they needed. Affective social support showed predictive value for child psychological adjustment.ApplicationsThese findings suggest that developing universal and selective parental education and support programs that focus on strengthening informal social support networks is needed, especially for vulnerable families. Implications for social workers who intervene with families are discussed.

Close Relations Matter: The Association Between Depression and Refugee Status in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA).

This study examined the prevalence and social determinants of depression among refugee and non-refugee adults aged 45-85 in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Bivariate analyses and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were conducted. The prevalence of depression was higher in a sample of 272 refugees (22.1%) and 5059 non-refugee immigrants (16.6%), compared to 24,339 native-born Canadians (15.2%). The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of depression for refugees were not attenuated when controlling factors such as, (1) socioeconomic status, (2) health conditions and behaviours, (3) social isolation and online social networking (aORs range from 1.61 to 1.70, p's < 0.05). However, when social support representing close personal relationships was included, the odds of depression for refugees were reduced to non-significance (aOR = 1.30, 95% CI 0.97-1.74, p = 0.08). Refugees' excess vulnerability to depression is mainly attributable to lower levels of affectionate social support. Targeted interventions in nurturing supportive interpersonal relationships for refugees are warranted.

What is the protective role of perceived social support and religiosity in suicidal ideation in young adults?

Suicide is more effectively prevented when its first manifestations are detected. The first warning sign may be suicidal ideation, so identifying these thoughts and the factors that protect against them is essential if solutions are to be found to this social problem. The purpose of this study, then, is to determine the role of religiosity, perceived social support, and depressive symptomatology in the suicidal ideation of young people. We administered the following questionnaires to a sample of 409 subjects (60.64% women) between 18 and 29 years old: Brief Scale of Religiosity, Beck Depression Inventory, Scale for Suicide Ideation, and Functional Social Support Questionnaire (which includes the subscales Confidential social support and Affective social support). Participants were resident in Spain (84.60%) or Andorra (15.41%). The results show significant correlations between suicidal ideation and the two factors of perceived social support (confidential social support and affective social support). These relationships were still significant after controlling for depressive symptomatology. However, religiosity was not correlated with suicidal ideation. Therefore, the results suggest that perceived social support is a protection factor against suicidal ideas in young men and women. In fact, people who experience suicidal ideation tend to have a greater sense of dissatisfaction in relation to the social support received by such social groups as family and friends. On the other hand, the data of the present investigation suggest that religiosity has an indirect relationship with suicidal ideation in young Spanish and Andorran community populations, through its relationship with social support.