Formal Sources Of Support Research Articles

Problem-solving appraisal and the effects of social support among college students and persons with physical disabilities.

The hypothesis that the appraisal of one's own ability to solve problems would moderate the effects of social support among two distinct samples was tested. In the 1st study, college students completed measures of depression, problem-solving appraisal, and social support. Although both predictor variables were significantly associated with depression, the 2 did not significantly interact in the prediction of depression. In the 2nd study, persons who had sustained severe physical disabilities completed the same independent measures and questionnaires of depression and psychosocial impairment. Problem-solving appraisal and social support were predictive of both criterion variables. The 2 independent variables significantly interacted in the prediction of psychosocial functioning. Results are discussed as they pertain to the effects of social support, with particular focus on persons who may have a higher frequency of contact with institutionalized and formal sources of support. Social support has received considerable research attention for several years. Theorists have reasoned that social support promotes psychological well-being in general and buffers people from the deleterious effects of stress (Cohen & Wills, 1985). Many studies have documented the positive relationships between various measures of social support and psychological adjustment (for reviews see Cohen, 1988; Cohen & Wills, 1985). It has been difficult, however, to understand the implications of social support research for counseling interventions. Counselors may help clients use resources in the clients' social environment to augment the course of therapy and to benefit well-being beyond the therapeutic experience (Rook, 1984). Yet few studies to date have investigated the effects of social support on client adjustment during or following counseling. In one relevant study, Mallinckrodt (1989) found that higher levels of social support were related to both positive and negative outcomes among clients in group therapy. Because negative relationships between social support and client adjustment are difficult to explain from existing theories of social support, much is to be clarified before counselors can confidently gear therapeutic interventions with the explicit purpose of enhancing client social support.

The Transition From Informal to Formal Sources of Support With Tasks of Daily Living

This study examined two issues related to the transition from informal to formal support sources of support: (a) the link between losses within the social network and a transition in source of support, and (b) the association between transitions toward formal sources of support and changes in wellbeing. Included were a subset of community-dwelling elders who participated in the Aging in Manitoba Studies and who survived over a 12-year follow up (n = 384). Women, but not men, experienced a transition to formal support with the less of a spouse or housemate, or with recent relocation to a new community. Moreover, for some women, the shift toward formal support was associated with declines in well-being, but this was true for only one of several measures of well-being. Thus, little evidence was found to suggest that the transition from informal to formal support has a detrimental effect on elders' levels of well-being.

Sources of Support Derived from the Neighborhood Walk

This report documents children's perception of their involvement with self-development, family members, and members of the community and begins to test the relation between that network and aspects of social-emotional functioning during middle childhood. Support was conceptualized to include experiences of both relatedness to and autonomy from others. Three major types of reported support in this study using the Neighborhood Walk were considered: others as resources (e.g., persons in the peer, parent, and grandparent generation; pets), intrapersonal sources of support (e.g., hobbies; fantasies--structured and unstructured; skill development), and environmental sources of support (e.g., places to get off to by oneself; formally sponsored organizations with structured and unstructured activities; informal, unsponsored meeting places). One hundred sixty-eight children (72 7-year-olds and 96 10-year-olds), residing in nonmetropolitan and rural northern California and representing all but the lowest Hollingshead socioeconomic status, participated in this study. To assess their sources of support at home and in the neighborhood/community, each of these 168 children was taken on a Neighborhood Walk, and then several measures of social-emotional functioning were administered. Cross-sectional data form the empirical basis for a developmental perspective on sources of support, the structure of social-emotional functioning, and the relationship between sources of support and social-emotional functioning during middle childhood. The child's perception of support was found relevant to predicting the social-emotional functioning of children growing up in relatively secure and low-stress conditions in modern American society. Furthermore, a broad-based as opposed to a limited network and informal as opposed to formal sources of support were more predictive of social-emotional functioning. The empirical and theoretical relevance of considering middle childhood as a period of active development involving expansion and integration of social and affective phenomena was underscored by the results. First, it appears that the 7-year-olds have not yet developed the underlying response or habit clusters that characterize the 10-year-olds. Second, with respect to reported sources of support, 10-year-olds appear to have more elaborated sources of support than do 7-year-olds. Third, the findings confirm that developing a bridge to extended family and neighborhood resources is related to expressions of social-emotional functioning during middle childhood and that 10-year-olds appear to make effective use of more social support factors than do 7-year-olds.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)