Perceived Community Support Research Articles

Abstract B91: Advancing toward interventions: Summary of two projects and a proposed intervention to improve mammography participation in Bemidji area native women

Abstract Purpose: The ultimate purpose of these studies and the proposed study is to use community-based interventions to increase overall use of mammographic services and to increase adherence with tribes' screening guidelines. Our immediate purposes by study: For Study 1, the purpose was to understand the risk and screening adherence profiles of women from four Bemidji Area tribes; for Study 2, the purpose was to ascertain whether non-adherent screeners and adherent screeners could be differentiated on any of six theoretical mediators of health behavior; in the proposed Study 3, the purpose is to use theoretical mediators that distinguish adherent and non-adherent screeners to design and test interventions to increase screening participation and adherence with tribes' screening guidelines. Experimental Procedures: All studies were designed to reflect principles of community-based participatory research. Study 1 was a chart review study that involved four tribes. Each tribe desired different levels of involvement that ranged from close control of all elements of the chart review to assigning the investigators to do the retrieval, review, and replacement of the medical records, and all elements of the analysis. All tribes managed the unique identifiers book which was a list of all women who were 40 years and older who had no prior history of breast cancer. Investigators retained only the unique identifiers and each individual's associated screening history and risk factors. Tribes received aggregated results from the study, but did not receive information on individual women's screening adherence or risk factors. Study 2, is guided by a community advisory committee that meets quarterly and involves one tribe. The study employs one tribal member and one tribal subcontractor, and has supported one student participant. The study team interviewed 55 women and used the results to develop a survey that is being administered to approximately 1400 women who are age 40 and older. Both the interviews and the survey are designed to examine the influence of six theoretical mediators (social norms, social networks, social support, health literacy, health beliefs, and theory of planned behavior) and demographic features on the behaviors of adherent and non-adherent mammographic screeners. Study 3 will involve four tribes and is designed to use the findings from Study 2 to develop and test interventions based on influential screening mediators. Each tribe has identified members who will serve on tribal research and advising units that will determine the specific interventions and receive training and mentoring to design and administer the interventions. The proposed interventions will be based on a case-control intervention design. Unpublished Data to Date: STUDY 1 showed that there were few significant differences (p = 0.05) based between adherent and non-adherent screeners based on risk factors. STUDY 2 interview results have shown some significant differences (p= 0.05) between adherent and non-adherent screeners related to self-efficacy (health beliefs model), perceived community support for annual mammograms (social norms), presence of 3rd degree relatives in social networks. There were no significant differences associated with health literacy, social support, and the theory of planned behavior. Conclusions: Findings in Study 2 show that potential differences between adherent and non-adherent screeners justify continuation to the survey phase. Should results of the survey demonstrate significant differences in the influential mediators of adherent compared to non-adherent screeners, follow-up with the intervention study (Study 3) will be an important next step. Citation Format: Wesley Petersen, Ann Nicometo, Robert Vierkant. Advancing toward interventions: Summary of two projects and a proposed intervention to improve mammography participation in Bemidji area native women. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B91. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-B91

The influence of familiarity, trust and norms of reciprocity on an experienced sense of community: an empirical analysis based on social online services

The growing use of social online services raises the question of what encourages members to participate actively and maintain accumulated social capital. Our research has particularly become aware of the relevance of familiarity, trust and reciprocity in understanding the members' sense of a virtual community (VC). Familiarity and trust are efficient criteria to assess and determine the extent to which one should engage in a virtual relationship. Furthermore, the effort of sharing experiences and knowledge must be based on the expectation of receiving certain returns. A structural equation modelling, specifically partial least squares, is proposed to assess the relationships between the constructs. Overall, the empirical results provided strong support for the hypotheses. Familiarity and trust lead the member to develop a growing perceived community support (PCS) and significantly influence the sense of a VC. Norms of reciprocity directly influence affective trust and PCS. Higher familiarity does not moderate the impact of affective trust on PCS, however. The results of this study could thus help social online service providers to create a successful business model and to determine the main drivers of the members' sense of a VC.

HIV Stigma and Physical Health Symptoms: Do Social Support, Adaptive Coping, and/or Identity Centrality Act as Resilience Resources?

Despite efforts to eliminate it at the societal level, HIV stigma persists and continues to threaten the health of people living with HIV (PLWH). We tested whether social support, adaptive coping, and/or HIV identity centrality act as resilience resources by buffering people from the negative impact of enacted and/or anticipated stigma on stress and ultimately HIV symptoms. Ninety-three PLWH completed a survey, and data analyses tested for evidence of mediation and moderation. Results demonstrated that instrumental social support, perceived community support, and HIV identity centrality buffered participants from the association between anticipated stigma and HIV symptoms. That is, anticipated stigma was associated with HIV symptoms via stress only at low levels of these resources. No resources buffered participants from the impact of enacted stigma. Identifying and enhancing resilience resources among PLWH is critical for protecting PLWH from the harmful effects of stigma.

Perceived institutional support among young indigenous and mestizo students from Chiapas (México): a group vitality approach

Ethnolinguistic Vitality Theory (EVT) asserts that status, demographic and institutional support (IS) factors make up the vitality of ethnolinguistic groups within intergroup relations. Specifically, IS factor refers to the extent to which a language group enjoys representation in the various institutions of a society, in particular, mass media, education, government services, industry, religion, culture and politics. However, some scholars suggest that EVT underestimates the strength of ethnic institutions. This article addresses the perceived IS among indigenous and mestizo students and perceived community support among indigenous students in Chiapas. The results show significant differences between indigenous perceived IS and community support. Based on this finding, we suggest that studies of ethnolinguistic vitality can be enriched by the use of new scales to measure ethnic groups' own institutions involved in fostering their native languages and traditions in contexts where the mainstream institutions do not give any formal or informal support.

HOPE AND LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN IN HONG KONG: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PERCEIVED COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Poverty is a long‐standing problem in developing and developed countries alike. It not only affects people's health and well‐being but may also create the social burden if not addressed appropriately. The present study of 150 children (aged 7–12 years) examines how the disadvantaged children's personal attribute interacts with the environment in developing their well‐being. Structural equation modeling provides evidence to our understanding of children who grow up in poverty. Not only are both hopeful thinking and perceived community support predictive of the children's satisfaction with life, but the perceived community support also plays a critical mediating role in the influence of hope on life satisfaction. This finding matches resilience literature, that to overcome great odds and to achieve well‐being, factors both within the individual and external sources of support, are also important in interactional ways. It also highlights the critical role of availability of community resources and support.

Capacidad de disfrute y percepción del apoyo comunitario en adolescentes espectadores de episodios de violencia entre pares (bullying)

En una muestra de adolescentes espectadores de episodios de violencia entre pares se estudian las relaciones entre la capacidad de disfrute del individuo y su percepción del apoyo comunitario en la escuela, a fin de verificar si dichas variables se correlacionan positivamente entre sí, y de que existen diferencias significativas entre los tipos de espectadores de episodios de violencia entre pares en relación a las mismas. Para ello se utilizaron como indicadores operacionales de estos procesos: la escala de gaudibilidad de Padrós, la escala de apoyo comunitario percibido adaptadas al ambiente escolar, y la escala de tipo de espectador de violencia entre pares validada en un estudio anterior. Se encontró correlaciones positivas significativas entre la capacidad de disfrute y la percepción subjetiva de apoyo comunitario en la escuela que tienen los adolescentes, así como con los distintos componentes de esta última. Igualmente que existen diferencias significativas, en la capacidad de disfrute del individuo y la percepción del apoyo comunitario en la escuela, entre el tipo de espectador prosocial y los tipos de espectador amoral e indiferente culpabilizado, no encontrándose diferencias significativas en cuanto a estos procesos entre estos últimos.

At-Risk Youth in After-School Programs: How Does Their Use of Media for Learning About Community Issues Relate to Their Perceptions of Community Connectedness, Community Involvement, and Community Support?

This paper highlights a study examining the impact of various media formats on at-risk youth to identify forms of media technology that might impact their community connectedness, community involvement, and community support. Over a three-year period, a sample of 133 youth enrolled in after-school programs in two communities completed a questionnaire annually consisting of the following areas: community support, community involvement, community connectedness, and media use for learning. Linear regression analysis indicated media use for learning about community issues was a predictor of student’s perceptions of community support, community connectedness, and community involvement. The media format most identified for gaining knowledge about community issues by the youth was the Internet, while the use of print media increased over the course of the study. The most significant relationships were found between media use and perceptions of community overall with the most significant gains in media use during Y2, where youth knowledge of community issues increased.

Antecedentes sociales y psicológicos del compromiso comunitario. Un análisis del comportamiento del usuario de una red social de relaciones

Perceived community support and relationship quality are appropriate means to explain the success of lasting relationships between social-network sites and their members. In particular, community participation and affective support from other members foster community commitment. Our research also proposes the importance of non-economic satisfaction and effective trust. The Partial Least Squares technique is used to establish the structural model's predictive power. The research showed that Tuenti is an online environment in which community commitment is mainly strengthened via community participation and satisfaction. Furthermore, routinised behaviours predispose members to a higher influence of community participation on community commitment —reducing the main effect of affective support and trust.

Risk reduction and perceived collective efficacy and community support among female sex workers in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, India: the importance of context

BackgroundEmpowering sex workers to mobilise and influence the structural context that obstructs risk reduction efforts is now seen an essential component of successful HIV prevention programmes. However, success depends on...

How to intensify the individual's feelings of belonging to a social networking site?

PurposeThis paper aims to test an interaction effects model that includes perceived community support, community satisfaction, and post‐adoption behaviours by analysing a social networking site called Tuenti. Inclusion of routinisation as a moderator allows, in particular, the overcoming of inconsistencies of relationships among key drivers found in previous studies.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses partial least squares to estimate the parameters of the interaction effects model.FindingsOverall, community satisfaction leads Tuenti members to develop community participation and feelings of belonging, and identification with other members. In particular, routinised behaviours predispose members to a higher influence of community satisfaction on community integration – reducing the main effect of perceived support. The higher community satisfaction also results in a lower influence of perceived support on active participation.Originality/valueAlthough previous research provides evidence of the possible effects of perceived community support and satisfaction on social behaviours, a review of the literature reveals that there are still very few published studies that analyse the interaction effects of community satisfaction and routinisation and consequently, improve the explanatory power of the theoretical framework.

English

This study provides empirical evidence on the nature of entrepreneurship in the informal sector. By interrogating opportunity recognition behaviour, motives for start-ups and perceptions of community support, better understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset is achieved. Informal traders were surveyed in a wide range of businesses of varying age and size. Results suggest that opportunity recognition behaviours are mixed and these informal traders are motivated by a variety of reasons for business start-ups. Additionally many respondents find community norms not to be suitable to entrepreneurial activity. Moreover, business size, but not age, accounts for significant variation across the study variables. Customised interventions are recommended, where informal businesses can be formalised and expanded, to enable them to take full advantage of opportunities. Implications are that as part of government’s initiative to enhance the skills of informal traders, policies should encourage the development of specific behavioural skills of which opportunity recognition is central. Key words: Informal sector, entrepreneurship, new firms, start-up motives, South Africa.

Expressive aesthetics to ease perceived community support: Exploring personal innovativeness and routinised behaviour as moderators in Tuenti

The aim of this study is to investigate moderating effects of personal innovativeness and routinised behaviour on relationships between expressive aesthetics and perceived community support (PCS) in the domain of the social network site Tuenti. Our research, therefore, contributes to the existing literature by examining the heterogeneous influence of affective cues on the sense of belongingness to a community, and emotional benefits from intense bonds to close members. A structural equation modeling, specifically partial least square (PLS), is proposed to assess the relationships between the constructs together with the predictive power of the model analysed. In particular, the research model is validated empirically using data from a field survey of the most popular computer-mediated SNS among the Spanish college student population, Tuenti. The results demonstrate that expressive aesthetics significantly predicts PCS. Likewise, the results provide strong support for the proposals that these effects (i.e., expressive aesthetics on PCS) will be moderated by personal innovativeness and routinised behaviour. The model and results can, consequently, be used to assess affective design aspects during the electronic interaction process.

Associations Between Social Capital and HIV Stigma in Chennai, India: Considerations for Prevention Intervention Design

Stigma against persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) is a barrier to seeking prevention education, HIV testing, and care. Social capital has been reported as an important factor influencing HIV prevention and social support upon infection. In the study, we explored the associations between social capital and stigma among men and women who are patrons of wine shops or community-based alcohol outlets in Chennai. We found that reports of social capital indicators were associated with reduced fear of transmission of HIV/AIDS, lower levels of feelings of shame, blame and judgment, lower levels of personal support and perceived community support for discriminatory actions against PLHA. Specifically, when participants reported membership in formal groups, perception of high levels of collective action toward community goals, high norms of reciprocity between neighbors and residents in daily life, and presence of trusted sexually transmitted disease care providers, all levels of measures of stigma were lower. Although we defined social capital rather narrowly in this study, our findings suggest that seeking partnerships with existing organizations and involving health care providers in future interventions may be explored as a strategy in community-based prevention interventions.

Measuring perceived community support: Factorial structure, longitudinal invariance, and predictive validity of the PCSQ (perceived community support questionnaire)

AbstractSocial support from intimate and confiding relationships has received a great deal of attention; however, the study of the community as a relevant source of support has been comparatively lacking. In this article, we present a multidimensional measure of community support (Perceived Community Support Questionnaire, PCSQ). Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on data from three samples of adult population (two‐wave panel: sample 1, N = 1009 and sample 2, N = 780; and an independent sample 3, N = 440), results show that community integration, community participation, and use of community organizations are reliable indicators of the underlying construct of perceived community support. Also, community support is associated with a reduction of depressive symptoms after 6 months, once autoregression is controlled for. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Determinants of Constables’ Perceptions of Community Support in Three Developing Nations

This research seeks to explore the factors that affect community support of the police as perceived by constables in three developing Caribbean nations: Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. Constables in these nations were surveyed on a variety of law enforcement issues including their judgments about citizen support and cooperation for the activities necessary to produce effective community policing. It is hypothesized that constables’ perceptions of public support are determined by individual, situational, organizational, and national factors. A multivariate conceptual model is constructed based on U.S. research and analyzed using regression analysis. Overall, the findings indicate that organizational and especially national factors influence such perceptions. Within-nation analyses reveal interesting differences in the factors that influence whether a community is seen by officers as supportive of their work.

Perceptions of work contexts: Disentangling influences at multiple levels of analysis

Individuals' perceptions of work contexts are influenced by factors at both the individual level and the contextual level. However, methodological considerations have often resulted in researchers choosing a single level of analysis when studying perceptions of work environments. The current study investigated individual and contextual influences on teachers' satisfaction within school districts. Hierarchical Linear Models were proposed as a useful method for simultaneously assessing variation in perceptions of community support at two levels of analysis. Perceptions of support were found to vary systematically at both the individual and the organizational level. Hypotheses about different predictors of teacher perceptions at both levels of analysis and mediation across levels were supported. Implications for the assessment of employee perceptions in organizations are discussed.

Divorce Among Muslim Arab Women in Israel

One hundred fifty-one Muslim Arab-Israeli women divorced within the past two years, having children, and living in Arab rural areas, Arab cities, and mixed (Jewish and Arab) cities, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Subjects encountered emotional distress and decreased socioeconomic status. All moved back to their parents' home. Levels of unemployment were high, perceived family support was high, and perceived community support was variable. Most anticipated little or no chance of remarrying. Level of education was associated with a tendency to initiate divorce. Living in an Arab city was associated with freedom of movement outside of the home, greater family support, and higher levels of employment. Implications for professional practice and policy development are considered.

School Personnel Estimates of Community Support for Sex Education

AbstractThis study determined the accuracy of the estimates of community support for school sex education by three school groups. Subjects were 200 randomly selected adults of an Indiana city and 4 school board members, 14 administrators and 14 health science teachers of the city school Corporation. Community members were asked if instruction about 11 human sexuality topics should be given to students before completion of high school and if they endorsed school sex education in general. The school groups then estimated the percentage of the community supporting the 12 items. In general, a high degree of inaccuracy was found for all three school groups in perceptions of community support. Each group underestimated the degree of endorsement for all of the criterion measures, with a significant difference being found for most items. Further, none of the school groups were, in general, any more accurate in their perceptions than the other groups. The investigation provided little support for the utilization o...

Community Norms and Blood Donation1

It is suggested that for social psychological theory and research on helping to provide an adequate general explanation of helping, more attention must be paid to supraindividual factors. Most studies of blood donation have failed to take into account a number of factors that may influence donations at the level of the organization, community or collectivity. This study examines the possibility that specific community norms may emerge that have an influence on the donating behavior of community members. Perceived normative support was found to exist in different degrees in communities that provide different levels of behavioral support for bloodmobile visits, and persons who report a greater degree of perceived community support for donation are more likely to have donated in the past year. Implications for donor recruitment procedures are discussed.

The Retirement Housing Setting

The paper describes and analyzes selected environmental aspects of six widely varying retirement housing facilities, in particular, the ecological variable of site boundaries. The analysis tests a model predicting thar perceived community support in crises will be a joint function of site permeability and service availability. Data collected from interviews with 600 residents fit the model and showed that in settings with good service availability (five sires), the lower the site permeability, the greater the perceived community support; the one site with poor service availability, as well as lowest permeability, evidenced the lowest perceived community support in crises.