Negative Social Control Research Articles

The Role of Grandparents in Facilitating Children's Physical Activity.

Research suggests there is considerable opportunity to improve children's movement behaviors while they are being cared for by their grandparents. An understanding of the extent to which grandparent practices facilitate children's engagement in physical activity is critical to the development of health interventions targeting grandparent caregivers. This study examined the activity-related beliefs and practices of grandparents and their association with grandchildren's engagement in various movement behaviors while in grandparental care. Australian grandparents (N = 1190; 60% women) who provided regular care to a grandchild aged 3-14years were recruited via a web panel provider to complete an online survey. The survey assessed grandparents' physical activity-related beliefs (eg,perceived importance) and practices (eg,support and social control) and their grandchildren's engagement in physical activity (unstructured, structured, and outdoor play) and screen-based activities while in grandparental care. The importance of grandchildren's physical activity was rated highly by grandparents. Grandparents' support for their grandchildren's physical activity was positively associated with their grandchildren's engagement in structured physical activity, unstructured physical activity, and outdoor play. Negative social control was associated with greater engagement in screen-based activities. Other correlates of grandchildren's physical activity and screen-based activities included grandparents' own engagement in these activities. Findings highlight the importance of reinforcing the beliefs and practices that positively influence children's movement behaviors and addressing those that have unintended consequences. Encouraging grandparents to support their grandchildren's physical activity and discouraging forms of negative social control are likely to be important in efforts to promote physical activity in children.

Social Control and Health Behaviors Among Individuals Living with Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Study.

Positive health behaviors (e.g., exercise, healthy eating habits, good sleep hygiene, treatment adherence) are important in ensuring optimal symptom management and health outcomes among individuals living with Parkinson's disease (PD). While multiple factors may influence engagement in health behaviors, little is known about the occurrence of social control, or relationship partners' attempts to influence and regulate another's behavior, and its potential role in the adoption of health behaviors among individuals with PD. To better understand the types of social control attempts employed and begin to explore the association between social control attempts and behavioral responses (e.g., engage in the targeted health behavior, hide the behavior) to those attempts, survey data were drawn from a cross-sectional, pilot study of married/partnered Veterans diagnosed with idiopathic PD (n = 25). Participants completed self-reported measures of sociodemographics, physical and mental well-being, relationship functioning, and both the frequency of and behavioral responses to positive and negative social control attempts. Although the majority of individuals reported their partners engaged in positive social control attempts, half also reported negative attempts. Bivariate analyses revealed more frequent positive social control attempts from one's partner were related to both positive and negative behavioral responses, and negative social control attempts were related to negative behavioral responses. However, when adjusting for covariates, positive social control attempts were related to positive behavioral responses, while negative social exchanges with one's partner (e.g., general conflict), rather than exposure to negative social control attempts, were related to negative behavioral responses. Findings lend preliminary evidence of the relationship between social control and exchanges and health behavior that may inform future, adequately powered observational and intervention studies that target interpersonal processes and health behaviors among individuals living with PD and their relationship partners.

Traumatic experiences and mental health status for female ethnic minority adolescents and young adults on the run from their families due to negative social control

ABSTRACT This study addresses family-related violence against ethnic minority women, a global public health concern. The study aims to investigate various forms of negative social control experienced by this group at the Safehouse, assess their mental health status, examine the links between negative social control and mental health outcomes, and the impact of other potentially traumatic events in this context. Data was collected at a safehouse with 86 young Danish ethnic minority women, who have been sheltered due to experiences of negative social control in the family. Measures included the ICD-11 Trauma Questionnaire, Life Event Checklist, Beck Youth Inventories, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory as well as background information, where respondents were asked whether they had experienced negative social control, violence etc. and sociodemographic characteristics. Findings indicate severe mental health consequences, such as high prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (50.7%) and Complex-PTSD (C-PTSD) (29.9%), as well as severe symptoms of depression and anxiety in a large proportion of the respondents. Furthermore, correlations suggested that negative social control might play an important role in the development of e.g. PTSD. A hierarchical regression analysis including negative social control, explained 35.5% of the PTSD symptomatology. Most of the young people who seeks shelter at a Safehouse suffer from severe mental health problems due to violence and negative social control. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed. Future research should further focus on psychological sequelae in a prospective design. The development and validation of a measure for negative social control would contribute greatly to this area of research.

Co-creating and co-producing learning environments in adult education through the World Café method

IntroductionThis article analyzes teachers’ efforts in preventing negative social control among newly arrived refugees at a Norwegian Adult Education Center (AEC). As the teachers realized that micro aggressive behavior hindered learning, they aimed for improving the learning environment. The World Café method (WCM) was implemented to change the learning environment in a positive way.MethodsData was collected by passive observation with participatory elements. This was followed up with individual and focus-group interviews on what happened during three World Café dialogues.ResultsThis article uses management theories to analyse whether and how the implementation of the World Café was successful. The findings emphasize professional discretion combined with co-creation and co-production as organizational prerequisites for a positive change within the learning environment. The leaders at the AEC conducted professional discretion by employing bilingual immigrants as assistants at the AEC.DiscussionThe bilingual assistants used their multilingual resources and experiences with secondary language teaching in the planning and implementation of the World Café sessions for the newly arrived refugees. They contributed by co-creation and co-producing the WCM together with Norwegian born teachers. Their participation was an innovation at the AEC and led to a positive change in the learning environment.

Adult refugees' perspectives on the impact of trauma and post-migration hardships on learning.

Background: Research shows that adult refugees' well-being and future in the reception country heavily depend on successfully learning the host language. However, we know little about how adult learners from refugee backgrounds experience the impact of trauma and adversity on their learning.Objective: The current study aims to investigate the perspectives of adult refugee learners on whether and how trauma and other adversity affect their learning.Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 22 adult refugees (10 women) attending the Norwegian Introduction Programme (NIP). The participants came from six Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and African countries. Two questionnaires were included, one about past stressful life events (SLESQ-Revised), and one about mental health symptoms and current psychological distress following potentially traumatic experiences (PCL-5).Results: Participants held varying beliefs about trauma's impact on learning: that it had a constant impact, that it was situational, or that it had no impact. Other aspects they brought up as having an essential effect on learning and school attendance include psychological burdens from past and present school experiences, and post-migration hardships such as loneliness, depression, ongoing violence, and negative social control. Post-migration trauma and hardships exacerbated the burden of previous trauma and were frequently associated with a greater negative influence on learning.Conclusion: This study adds new insights from adult refugee learners themselves into how post-migration hardships as well as trauma can impact their learning, and the importance of recognising their struggles. A safe space is required for refugees to open up about their difficulties in life and with learning. This knowledge can be used to enhance teaching practices, foster better teacher-student relationships, and inform policy-making decisions, ultimately benefiting both individuals and society.

Developing Public Health Promotion Strategies for Social Networking Sites: Perspectives of Young Immigrant Women in Norway.

Social networking sites (SNS) have emerged as digital settings for youth participation and health promotion. Understanding the complex dynamic of analog/digital participation has become crucial for settings-based health promotion strategies that aim to enable people to increase control over their health and environments. Previous research demonstrates that SNS influence young people's health in complex ways, but less is known about how processes related to intersectionality are reflected in digital settings. This study asked the following question: how do young women with immigrant backgrounds experience and navigate SNS and how can this inform settings-based health promotion strategies? The study included three focus groups with 15 women aged 16-26 years and used thematic content analysis. Young women with immigrant backgrounds reported that transnational networks provided a sense of belonging. However, their presence on SNS strengthened negative social control and had consequences for endeavors to connect with local peers in both digital and analog settings. Both challenges and resources were amplified. The participants reported that sharing strategies to navigate complex networks was useful; they emphasized the importance of anonymous chats, they shared health-related information with extended networks with lower e-literacy, and they saw opportunities for the cocreation of health promotion strategies.

The Mediating Role of Social Control in the Relationship between Family Communication Patterns and Emerging Adults’ Weight-Related Outcomes

ABSTRACT Emerging adults leaving home face an important transition. Despite increased independence, parent communication continues to influence weight/body perceptions. Emerging adults (N = 202) reported on a parent’s use of Family Communication Patterns (FCP) and social control to predict three outcomes: weight concern, body dissatisfaction, and weight-related communication apprehension (WRCA). Mediation analysis revealed that participants from conformity-oriented families reported greater weight concern and WRCA through a parent’s use of greater negative social control. Participants from conversation-oriented families reported lower weight concern and WRCA through a parent’s use of lower negative social control. Theoretical implications are offered to explain how FCP climates are associated with body-concept outcomes via social control behaviors, and practical implications are offered for family-focused health practitioners.

The Dyadic Interplay Between Relationship Satisfaction, Perceived Positive and Negative Social Control, and a Reduction of Sedentary Behavior Time.

Both the close relationship processes and health model and the dyadic health influence model posit that beliefs about the relationship (e.g., relationship satisfaction) and influence strategies (e.g., social control) serve as mediators of health behavior change. The evidence for such mediation is limited. This study investigated two competing hypotheses that arise from these models: (1) perceived use of positive and negative social control (attempts to influence the partner's behaviors) predict sedentary behavior (SB) indirectly, via relationship satisfaction; or (2) relationship satisfaction predicts SB indirectly, via positive and negative social control. Data from 320 dyads (target persons and their partners, aged 18-90 years), were analyzed using mediation models. SB time was measured with GT3X-BT accelerometers at Time 1 (T1; baseline) and Time 3 (T3; 8 months following baseline). Relationship satisfaction and social control were assessed at T1 and Time 2 (T2; 2 months following baseline). Higher T1 relationship satisfaction among target persons predicted target persons' reporting of higher T2 negative control from partners, which in turn predicted lower T3 SB time among target persons. Lower T1 relationship satisfaction among partners predicted target persons' reporting of higher T2 perceived negative control from partners, which predicted lower T3 SB time among target persons. On average, both members of the dyad reported moderate-to-high relationship satisfaction and low-to-moderate negative control. In contrast to very low levels of negative control, its low-to-moderate levels may be related to beneficial behavioral effects (lower SB time) among target persons reporting moderate-to-high relationship satisfaction.

Project and Process Management of Public-Private Partnerships: Managerial Tensions and Coping Strategies

Western governments increasingly use public-private partnerships (PPPs) to solve complex social problems. This article examines how public managers handle conflicting demands for classical project management and collaborative process management in PPPs for preventing negative social control. Building on theories of public governance, PPP management, and paradox management, it develops an analytical framework for studying managerial tensions in PPPs. Applying the framework in a case study of three Danish PPPs, it shows how partnership managers handle managerial tensions through strategies of opposition, separation, and synthesis. The study demonstrates a promising path of integrating paradox management theory in public governance hybridity research.

Older adults' physical activity-related social control and social support in the context of personal norms.

This study investigated whether perceived physical activity norms moderated the effects of physical activity-related social interactions on intentions to engage in physical activity among community-residing older adults (N = 217). Structural equation modeling tested whether two types of social support and social control interacted with personal norms in predicting intentions to be active. Emotional and informational support were associated with higher intentions, and negative social control was associated with lower intentions to engage in activity. Each of these effects was more prominent in the context of weak personal norms, suggesting future research and interventions should consider joint effects of support and norms.

“A room of our own”. Social media use amongst youth with immigrant background in Norway

Abstract Background Social media includes webpages, apps and digital games, where content can be created and shared, and participation in social networks is possible. It is known that social media impacts the lives of youth in a complex way. So far, little is known about how immigrant youth use social media and how that impacts their lives. The immigrant population is heterogeneous and complex, but overall, experiences a heavier burden of disease. In this study, we explored how immigrant youth use social media, and particularly how social media could contribute to health promotion. Methods We collaborated with non-governmental organisations to establish six focus group interviews that lasted for two hours each. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by thematic content analysis. Results Immigrant youth met both barriers and benefits related to their background through their participation on social media. Barriers related to lack of knowledge about relevant social codes and to limited access due to negative social control. Benefits were the social interaction with people of similar identity. The youth navigated and carved rooms on social media to discuss topics like identity, social control, and to escape attributed identities and social control. They used several platforms established by immigrant youth and their organisations that contributed positively. Conclusions Social media represents arenas that serve as resources for immigrant youth. We found examples of use and platforms established by immigrant youth that can be incorporated into public health strategies. Yet, social media consists of social codes and structures, and unequal accessibility, like other social arenas. Such barriers can be addressed by providing more equal access to these social arenas. Key messages To youth with immigrant background in Norway, social media represents valuable arenas for health promotion. Social media signifies fruitful opportunities to navigate identities and social control.

Relationship partner social behavior and continuous positive airway pressure adherence: The role of autonomy support.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a serious respiratory disorder, confers increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Adherence to the standard and effective treatment, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), is often poor. Personal relationships can influence adherence, but some forms of partner involvement (e.g., support, encouragement) have positive effects on CPAP adherence, whereas others (e.g., criticism, blame) are counterproductive. In the former, constructive partner efforts may enhance a patient's sense of autonomy, an important foundation for self-care. The present study examined how patients' perceptions of autonomy support from an intimate partner predict adherence to CPAP, and whether it is an independent predictor, relative to generally positive partner behavior (i.e., partner responsiveness) and partner negativity (i.e., negative social control). Ninety-two married or cohabiting OSA patients (mean age 49.7 years) completed measures of perceived partner autonomy support, responsiveness, and negative social control at Days 14 and 60 of CPAP treatment. Objective daily CPAP machine adherence data were collected for 60 days. Perceived partner autonomy support predicted more minutes of CPAP used per night and increasing CPAP use over time. These effects were independent of the significant adverse effects of partner negative social control and the more limited beneficial effects of partner responsiveness. The study findings establish perceived partner autonomy support as an interpersonal predictor of adherence that is independent of negative social control and perceived partner responsiveness, and may inform psychosocial interventions for CPAP adherence and more general couple approaches to chronic illness management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of close others in promoting weight management and body image outcomes: An application of confirmation, self-determination, social control, and social support

Four theoretical perspectives grounded this examination of mothers’, romantic partners’, and friends’ interpersonal communication behaviors related to young women’s weight management behaviors and body image outcomes. Specifically, behaviors identified by confirmation (i.e., acceptance and challenge), self-determination (i.e., autonomous and controlled motivation), social control (i.e., positive and negative social control), and social support (i.e., esteem and informational support) were predicted to be associated with young women’s physical activity, healthy eating, body appreciation, and body satisfaction. Female participants ( N = 637) completed online surveys and reported on perceptions of either their mothers’, romantic partners’, or friends’ communication, as well as their own behaviors and self-views. Results identified a number of perceived interpersonal behaviors (e.g., acceptance, autonomous motivation, positive social control) associated with young women’s weight management and body image outcomes, with mothers’ communication being a particularly consistent predictor.

Health-Related Social Control Influences the Physical Activity of College Students

Objective: To examine the impact of health-related social control tactics on the physical activity behavior of college students. Participants: 110 undergraduates (74% women) recorded their naturalistic behavior across eight consecutive days between March and May of 2010. Methods: A short-term longitudinal daily diary survey examined daily self-reports of received health-related social control (the direct regulation of a target’s health behaviors by a social partner) and minutes engaged in physical activity. Results: Multilevel modeling according to a two-level structure in which observations (Level 1) were nested within individuals (Level 2) revealed that positive social control for exercise (e.g., encouragement) had a positive effect on physical activity participation, both within-persons (intra-individual level) and between-persons (inter-individual level). Negative social control (e.g., nagging) had no effect on physical activity participation. Conclusion: The present results suggest that individuals should employ positive social control tactics when attempting to enhance the physical activity behaviors of college students.

Enacting Social Control to Encourage Healthier Partner Diet and Exercise Behavior: Considering the Roles of Constraints and Topic Avoidance

ABSTRACTA multiple goals framework examined romantic couples’ use of social control, perceived constraints to using social control, and topic avoidance regarding their health behaviors. Results showed a positive association between perceptions of social control constraints and use of negative social control. Additionally, topic avoidance was negatively related to the use of positive and negative social control and partners’ health behaviors. Finally, the use of positive social control was positively associated with one’s own health behaviors. These results illustrate how one’s consideration of secondary goals affects the pursuit of the primary goal of influencing health behaviors. Specifically, romantic partners who discuss dieting and exercising should consider using positive social control when encouraging partners to engage in healthy behaviors.

Interpersonal effects of health-related social control: Positive and negative influence, partner health transformations, and relationship quality

It is common for romantic partners to influence one another’s health maintenance behaviors. Previous research has examined positively and negatively framed social control messages to understand health behavior outcomes and relational affect; however, this study confirms and extends previous research by studying the associations between health transformations (from interdependence theory, health behaviors enacted for the partner) and relationship satisfaction. Data from a cross-sectional dyadic survey of heterosexual couples were analyzed using actor–partner independence models. As expected, dyadic results showed that positive social control was associated with greater healthy and fewer unhealthy partner transformations, whereas negative social control was associated with lower relationship satisfaction and more unhealthy transformations. Further, the breadth of partner health behaviors that individuals attempt to influence moderated the associations between social control and relationship satisfaction and health transformations. We discuss how the results from this study underscore the health implications associated with the nature and breadth of social control communication in romantic relationships.

Emotion regulation difficulties and social control correlates of smoking among pregnant women trying to quit

Approximately 15% of US women currently smoke during pregnancy. An important step toward providing effective smoking cessation interventions during pregnancy is to identify individuals who are more likely to encounter difficulty quitting. Pregnant smokers frequently report smoking in response to intrapersonal factors (e.g., negative emotions), but successful cessation attempts can also be influenced by interpersonal factors (i.e., influence from close others). This study examined the association between emotion regulation difficulties, positive and negative social control (e.g., encouragement, criticism), and smoking cessation-related variables (i.e., smoking quantity, withdrawal symptoms) among pregnant smokers. Data were drawn from the pretreatment wave of a smoking cessation trial enrolling low-income pregnant women who self-reported smoking in response to negative affect (N = 73). Greater emotion regulation difficulties were related to greater smoking urges (b = 0.295, p = .042) and withdrawal symptoms (b = 0.085, p = .003). Additionally, more negative social control from close others was related to fewer smoking days (b = −0.614, p = .042) and higher smoking abstinence self-efficacy (b = 0.017, p = .002). More positive social control from close others interacted with negative affect smoking (b = −0.052, p = .043); the association between negative affect smoking and nicotine dependence (b = 0.812, p < .001) only occurred at low levels of positive social control. Findings suggest that emotion regulation difficulties may contribute to smoking during pregnancy by exacerbating women's negative experiences related to smoking cessation attempts. Negative social control was related to lower smoking frequency and greater confidence in quitting smoking, suggesting that it may assist pregnant smokers' cessation efforts. Positive social control buffered women from the effects of negative affect smoking on nicotine dependence. Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01163864

Inter-relations among negative social control, self-efficacy, and physical activity in healthy couples.

In romantic relationships, partners can influence each other's health-relevant behaviour by exerting negative social control (e.g., pressuring), however, with mixed success. To elucidate this phenomenon, we examined couples motivated to increase their physical activity and investigated the degree to which both partners exerted negative control on each other, their self-efficacy, reciprocal associations among the two behaviour-specific constructs, and their relationship with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This was a longitudinal study with three assessment periods (T0, T2, T3) spanning 7weeks. We performed secondary analyses with data from the control condition (N=113 heterosexual couples) of a published randomized controlled trial. Dyadic mediator models specified either both partners' self-efficacy as predictors and provided negative partner control to each other as mediators or vice versa. The outcomes comprised both partners' accelerometer-assessed MVPA. Mediators and outcomes were controlled for their T0 values. The first model showed that women's and men's provided negative partner control (T0) was positively related to the other partners' self-efficacy (T2). Testing the alternative predictive direction, the second model showed that only women's self-efficacy (T0) was associated with more provided negative partner control (T2) by men. Women and men showed less MVPA (T3) when their partners had provided them with more negative control at T2. As negative control provided to partners may be detrimental to their behaviour change, interventionists should advise couples to avoid it. However, active ingredients of negative control that may benefit recipients' self-efficacy beliefs should be investigated in future work. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Couples often try to change each other's health behaviour not just using supportive tactics, but also controlling ones. Negative partner control (e.g., rebuking and nagging) was found to have adverse or no effects on control recipients' health behaviour change. To understand underlying mechanisms of this relationship, reactance and negative affect of recipients have been investigated, but only rarely their self-efficacy, a consistent individual predictor of behaviour change that is likely to share reciprocal relations with social exchange processes, including negative social control. What does this study add? Although harmful for behaviour change, negative partner control may increase control recipients' self-efficacy. Higher self-efficacy of one partner may also increase provided negative partner control by the other.

Associations between social control, motivation, and exercise: How romantic partners influence exercise during young adulthood.

This study investigated whether positive and negative romantic partner social control attempts (persuasion and pressure, respectively) were related to approach-avoidance motives and exercise among young adults (N = 98), using daily reports. Daily persuasion was linked to higher daily approach motives. At the person level, persuasion was associated with higher approach and avoidance motives in addition to more frequent, longer exercise. Pressure was associated with higher daily relationship stress, which was associated with higher daily avoidance motives. At the person level, pressure was related to less frequent, shorter exercise. Thus, romantic partners' social control use correlates with exercise motives and behavior.

Physical activity-related social control and social support in older adults: Cognitive and emotional pathways to physical activity.

A survey of 217 older adults assessed physical activity-related positive and negative social control and emotional and informational support, using structural equation modeling to investigate mediational effects of emotional responses and behavioral intentions on physical activity. There were significant indirect effects of social control and social support on intentions as mediated by positive, but not negative, emotional responses, and significant indirect effects of emotional responses on physical activity as mediated by intentions. These findings help to identify the cognitive and emotional pathways by which social control and social support may promote or detract from physical activity in later life.