Perceived Peer Support Research Articles

Stressful life events, psychological symptoms, and social support of children and young asylum-seekers in Iceland.

Children and young asylum-seekers are often exposed to stressful life events (SLEs) and risk developing psychological symptoms. However, risk and protective factors can positively and negatively influence this vulnerable group's mental health. To examine the SLE experiences and psychological symptoms of children and youth who seek refuge in Iceland. And to study the role that gender, travelling (un)accompanied and perceived social support play in the development of psychological symptoms for this population. Participants were 75 children and youth of ages 13 to 24 years who sought asylum in Iceland (M = 19.7, SD =3.0, 66.7% male). Sociodemographic and social support data were collected via face-to-face interviews, with the help of interpreters when required, while SLEs, post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety and behavioural symptoms measures were administered to participants. The results indicated that participants who travelled alone to Iceland had experienced more SLEs than those who travelled accompanied. SLE experiences were associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological symptoms. Results also revealed that SLE and perceived peer support played a significant role in predicting PTSD symptoms. Children and young asylum-seekers are exposed to a high number of SLEs, which increases their risk of developing psychological problems. This potential risk underlines the need for early assessments and intervention. Moreover, higher levels of social support were related to less severe PTSD symptoms, suggesting that social resources act as protective factors for these children and youth in helping them cope with SLEs.

A cross-sectional examination of sexual victimization and heavy episodic drinking among high school students

Sexual victimization is an important risk factor for problematic alcohol use across the lifespan. Heavy episodic drinking (HED) among high school students is associated with numerous negative physical, psychological, and academic outcomes. Whereas previous research has examined the association between a history of sexual victimization and HED in young adult and adult samples, far less research is focused on high school youth. Accordingly, the present study aims to determine the association between history of sexual victimization and HED among high school students (N = 1,844), in the context of individual (i.e., gender, sexual orientation), peer- (i.e., perceived peer norms), and community-level factors (i.e., school connectedness). Binomial logistic regression analysis showed that among girls, lifetime history of sexual victimization, peer engagement in violence, and perceived peer support for violence were positively associated with HED and school connectedness was negatively associated with HED. Among boys, whereas perceived peer support for violence was positively associated with HED, school connectedness was negatively associated with HED. Self-identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual was not associated with HED for girls or boys. Findings elucidate the importance of addressing sexual victimization, perceptions of school connectedness, and perceptions of peer support for violence in the context of substance use prevention programs for youth.

Perceived Peer Support as a Moderator of the Relationship between Core Self-Evaluations and Career Adaptability among University Students from Papua Region

Introduction. According to The Organizer of Indonesian Higher Education (2018), 7% of students in Papua and West Papua drop out of college. In contrast, this figure is much higher than the national dropout rate, which is 3%. For Papuan students to succeed academically, they ought to have a good career adaptability. Papuan students with higher career adaptability have the resources to be responsible and adapt to the university environment. Career adaptability may be influenced by key factors such as core self-evaluation and perceived peer support. Method. This study examines the role of perceived peer support in moderating the relationship between core self-evaluations and career adaptability. The participants consisted of students from Papua (N=176) who have been actively carrying out their lectures since year 2011-2020. Result. The result of the moderation analysis using the Hayes Process shows that perceived peer support significantly moderated the relationship between core self-evaluations and career adaptability (t=2.06, p<.05). Discussion and Conclusion. The role of perceived peer support as a moderator may be influenced by the culture of collectivism prevalent among Papuan students. In this culture, individuals tend to associate their level of social support with their self-assessments. The results of this study provide information on interventions that can be given to the students in order to develop their career adaptability.

University students’ approaches to online learning technologies: The roles of perceived support, affect/emotion and self-efficacy in technology-enhanced learning

In the context of technology-enhanced learning (TEL), the quality of students' learning is determined largely by their use of online learning technologies. Building on the framework of students' approaches to learning, this study investigated students’ approaches to online learning technologies (SAOLT) in relation to their perceptions of support, affect/emotion and self-efficacy in online learning environments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a questionnaire survey of 7210 Chinese undergraduate students, SEM analysis revealed that perceived instructional support was positively related to the deep approach to online learning technologies and negatively related to the surface approach to online learning technologies. Perceived peer support and technical support were indirectly related to the deep approach to online learning technologies, mediated by affect/emotion and self-efficacy. The findings deepen our understanding of SAOLT and yield pedagogical implications for efforts to promote a deep approach to online learning technologies, thus fostering high-quality learning in the context of TEL.

Perceived Support and Gender: Identifying with the Engineering Community as a First-Year Engineering Student

National interest in mental wellbeing in the Canadian population has trickled down to focusing on subsets of the population that are particularly vulnerable to poor mental wellbeing. One of these subsets is the engineering student population due to the high stress and anxiety associated with their course load and prospects. The current study carried out a secondary analysis of wellbeing surveys administered to engineering students (N = 141) during the Winter 2020 semester. The primary analysis sought to determine whether perceived peer support, instructor support, and staff support predicted engineering identity. Greater identification with one’s career path is shown to be related with greater wellbeing in students and employees in the form of greater satisfaction and likelihood to remain in the degree program. Further, the analysis explored whether gender and hometown acted as moderating variables, either intensifying or lessening the main relationship. The analysis uncovered a statistically significant relationship between perceived peer support and engineering group identity, r = .534, p <.001. This relationship was moderated by gender, p = .033, wherein female engineering students who reported low levels of peer support were far less likely to feel a sense of belonging in the engineering community than male students. This gender difference did not exist for those who reported high levels of perceived peer support. Implications for female representation and program development are discussed.

Impact of first-generation status, living in an LCC, and campus club involvement on sense of belonging in the first semester

To determine if first-generation status, living in an LLC, and campus club involvement affect students’ sense of belonging in their first semester of college, the researchers surveyed first-year college students enrolled at a large, public research institution during their first semester. Multiple regression analyses found campus club involvement to be a significant predictor of sense of belonging on all four subscales of the Sense of Belonging Scale: perceived peer support, perceived classroom comfort, perceived isolation, and perceived faculty support. Living in an LLC was also found to be a significant predictor of perceived peer support, but not in perceived classroom comfort, perceived isolation, or perceived faculty support. First-generation status did not emerge as a significant predictor for any of the four areas of sense of belonging. Findings revealed the significant role campus involvement has on college students’ sense of belonging in the first semester.

Exploring the relationship between learner proactivity and social capital via online learner interaction: role of perceived peer support

ABSTRACT It has been stated that learners who take an active role in their learning are more likely to advance their analytical skills and expand their social connections. However, the process through which learners can expand their social capital is still unexplored. This study employs social cognitive theory to conduct a threefold investigation: (1) determining the impact of learner proactivity on online learner interaction, (2) determining the mediating influence of online learner interaction in the association between learner proactivity and learner social capital; and (3) determining the extent to which perceived peer support (PPS) influences the relationship between learner proactivity and learner social capital. The final sample of 322 respondents from China’s Anhui province was employed in this study. The findings of this study, which were driven by a social cognitive theory, reveal that learner proactivity reaps social networks through online interaction, strengthening learner social capital in virtual learning. This study also found that PPS boosted the indirect influence of online learner interaction in the relationship between learner proactivity and learner social capital.

Retrospective and Concurrent Victimisation as Predictors of Social Self-Concept and Loneliness in First-Year University Students

Peer victimisation during school years has been found to significantly shape the way students perceive themselves and how they enter into relationships with peers, thus impacting students’ current and long-term wellbeing. However, victimisation has seldom been examined in university students. The present study aimed to investigate students’ current level of self-reported peer victimisation and perceived peer support and their retrospectively reported victimisation as predictors of their social self-concept and loneliness in their first year of university. First-year university students (N = 200; 26% male) participated in the study. The results indicated that retrospectively reported victimisation experiences during their years of schooling explained additional variance in social self-concept and loneliness beyond their concurrent peer experiences. These findings indicate that experiencing victimisation during school years could have consequences for students’ wellbeing that are not limited to the period of primary and secondary schooling, but can persist after their transition to university. Practical implications for the promotion of mental health in the higher education context are discussed.

Paths 2 the Future and the Development of Perceived Peer Support: A Mixed Methods Study

Paths 2 the Future and the Development of Perceived Peer Support: A Mixed Methods Study

Perceived social support as a factor in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

IntroductionSupport from a different sources can have a critical impact on a person’s mental health in a stressful situation. In situations of prolonged stress, it is necessary to identify the links between specific sources of support and mental health.ObjectivesTo identify the connections between different sources of social support and mental health indicators in different periods during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsDASS (Lovibond, Lovibond, 1995) and MSPSS (Zimet et al., 1988) were applied. The study involved 855 people aged from 18 to 60 years (M=32.9; SD=13.88). The study was conducted online in the spring of 2020 (N=426) and in the winter of 2021 (N=429).ResultsPost Hoc Scheffe revealed that perceived peer support in spring 2020 was significantly lower than in winter 2021 (p<0.05). With Pearson correlation coefficient, we tested the connections between perceived social support from family, friends, and significant others and the level of depression, anxiety, and stress. In spring 2020, all mental health indicators were associated with the perceived social support from all three sources (friends, family, and significant others). In the winter of 2021, depression levels were still associated with the perceived social support from all three sources, while the levels of anxiety and stress were associated only with perceived family support.ConclusionsThus, the study has revealed the dynamics in dependence of mental health indicators on the perceived social support from various sources at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-04-60174.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Patterns of Elementary School Students' Bullying Victimization: Roles of Family and Individual Factors.

Physical, verbal, and relational bullying victimization are common forms of bullying victimization. Some victims may suffer only one form of victimization and some may suffer multiple forms of victimization at the same time. Bullying victimization groups are heterogeneous and different forms of victimization may have different combination patterns. Previous studies assessed patterns of bullying victimization among junior and senior high school students. However, limited studies explored patterns among elementary students and explored possible factors in shaping these patterns from the integrated perspective of family and individual. We expanded and deepened research in this area using questionnaires to collect self-report data for 866 parent/child pairs. Latent profile analysis was used to explore patterns of elementary students. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine relations between patterns and family and individual factors. We found three bullying victimization groups: severe (5.4%), verbal (13.6%), and non-bullying victimization (81%). In family factors, the time parents spent with children was a protective factor for bullying victimization, and negative interactions with children was a risk factor. Individual-level protective factors for bullying victimization were coming from a single child household, positive coping style, and perceived peer support, whereas a negative coping style was a risk factor. These results indicate that different forms of bullying victimization co-occur among elementary school students. Some family and individual factors are associated with bullying victimization patterns. It is important to consider the heterogeneity among the bullying victimization groups of elementary students and influencing factors to develop targeted prevention interventions for different bullying victimization groups.

Peer relationships buffer the negative association of online education with education satisfaction and subsequently with study engagement among undergraduate medical students

BackgroundDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, undergraduate medical students had to follow high amounts of online education. This does not match their preferences and might negatively affect their education satisfaction and study engagement. As low levels of education satisfaction and study engagement are risk factors for burnout and dropout, resources that mitigate these possible negative consequences of forced online education need to be identified. Therefore, the current study investigated 1) the associations of the amount of online education with education satisfaction and study engagement, and 2) whether quantitative (i.e., network size) and qualitative (i.e., perceived support) aspects of peer relationships can buffer the expected negative associations.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, 372 undergraduate medical students from all eight Dutch medical schools (79.8% female; mean age: 20.4 years) completed an online survey assessing the relevant variables. Data were analysed using correlation and moderated mediation analyses.ResultsThe amount of online education was significantly negatively related to education satisfaction and study engagement. Additionally, higher amounts of online education were indirectly associated with lower levels of study engagement through lower levels of education satisfaction. More importantly, both quantitative and qualitative aspects of peer relationships significantly buffered this negative indirect association. Specifically, among medical students with a large peer network or high levels of perceived peer support, the amount of online education was no longer significantly negatively related to education satisfaction and subsequently to study engagement.ConclusionsThe current study underlines the importance of peer relationships in the educational context, since our findings indicate that both the peer network size and the perceived peer support protect medical students’ education satisfaction and study engagement when confronted with study demands, such as forced online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings may be translated into educational efforts that stimulate collaborative learning and the formation of formal peer networks.

Adolescent Peer Victimization and Deliberate Self-Harm: A Three-Wave Moderated Mediation Model.

Background: Identifying deliberate self-harm (DSH) and peer victimization in adolescents is a public health issue. The present study evaluates a three-wave longitudinal model to examine the effect of peer victimization on DSH and the roles of internalizing problems (depression and anxiety) and perceived peer and teacher support climate in this relationship. Methods: The participants were 2381 adolescents (51.2% boys, Mage = 13.38, SD = .59) from Chinese middle schools. Self-report measures were used to collect data every 6 months in three waves. Results: (1) Peer victimization at T1 positively predicted DSH at T3. (2) Depression at T2, rather than anxiety, mediated the relationship between peer victimization at T1 and DSH at T3. (3) Perceived peer support climate at T1 played a moderating role between peer victimization at T1 and depression and anxiety at T2, but perceived teacher support climate did not. Peer victimization had a stronger predictive effect on depression and anxiety for students with high level of perceived peer support climate. Limitations: Study limitations include the short interval (6months) of the longitudinal design, the reliance on self-report questionnaires, the inclusion of only one aspect of student-student and teacher-student relationships, and the age limitation. Conclusions: The results demonstrated the importance of prevention for improving social and emotional skills to reduce peer victimization and of interventions to promote a peer support climate in the classroom. The findings highlight the need to consider different types of internalizing problems and perceived support in studies of DSH in adolescents.

The impact of peer support on testing, linkage to and engagement in HIV care for people who inject drugs in Indonesia: qualitative perspectives from a community-led study

IntroductionPeople who use, including those who inject, drugs in Indonesia are disproportionately affected by HIV, but tend to be diagnosed at a late stage of infection, delay initiation to and have poor rates of retention in antiretroviral treatment, resulting in high rates of morbidity and mortality. In addition to legal, policy and health system barriers, PWID may be hesitant to engage in HIV, treatment and care due to lack of knowledge, distrust of the health care system, and stigma related to their dual drug use and HIV status. Implementation of formal peer support initiatives may reduce provider- and individual-level barriers and increase testing, linkage to, and engagement in HIV care among people who use drugs.MethodsWe conducted a community-led qualitative study to explore the impacts of peer support for people who inject drugs on HIV care access and engagement in Indonesia. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 participants in Jakarta and Bandung. Thematic analysis was used to explore how people who inject drugs living with HIV (PWID LHIV) (n = 8), peer support workers (n = 6), and service providers (n = 6) perceived peer support provision by non-governmental organisations.ResultsParticipants unanimously described peer support as beneficial. Peer support workers were widely credited with facilitating access to HIV testing, referral to care, uptake of and adherence to antiretroviral treatment, as well as sustaining engagement in care for PWID. Support mechanisms that facilitated positive peer experiences included provision of HIV knowledge and awareness, emotional support, help with navigating complex bureaucracy, developing trust in health care services, enhancing confidence and motivation, and supporting peers to navigate a wide range of health and social welfare services beyond HIV-related care.ConclusionsFindings indicate that peer support can enhance access to testing, linkage to, and engagement in HIV care for people who use drugs living with HIV in Indonesia. In a context of an ongoing HIV epidemic among people who use drugs, reduced funding and policy attention to HIV and harm reduction, there is an urgent need to prioritize peer support interventions to identify people who use drugs facing health risks and link them to appropriate services.

Teachers’ Management of Peer Relations: Associations with Fifth Grade Classroom Peer Ecologies

We investigated the associations between students’ perceptions of their teachers’ management of peer relations (TMPR) and two facets of the peer ecology: perceptions of peer support and the behaviors of popular peers (responsibility and rebelliousness). Participants were 1,031 fifth graders nested within 50 elementary school classrooms. Early adolescents in our sample were majority White and varied in socioeconomic status. A confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that TMPR was a unique component of adolescents’ classroom context. Multilevel modeling indicated that TMPR is positively associated with supportive peer interactions and perceptions that responsible peers are popular. Additionally, TMPR was associated with weaker endorsements that rebellious peers are popular. Findings underscore the importance of teacher practices that are attentive to peer relationships as well as the promise of developing intervention efforts in this area.

Seeking and Sharing Mental Health Information on Social Media During COVID-19: Role of Depression and Anxiety, Peer Support, and Health Benefits.

This study conducted a cross-sectional online survey (N = 865) to determine whether self-ratings of depression and anxiety, perceived peer support, and perceived health benefits of social media predicted mental health–related information seeking and sharing behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hierarchical regression models showed only depression self-ratings, anxiety self-ratings, and perceived health benefits predicted information seeking, whereas depression self-ratings, anxiety self-ratings, perceived peer support, and perceived health benefits all predicted information sharing. There was a statistically significant positive interaction of anxiety self-ratings and perceived peer support on information sharing. Participants’ experience of COVID-19 predicted both information seeking and sharing. Mental health–related information seeking and sharing differed across social media platforms, with YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram used most for information seeking and Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter used most for information sharing. Findings suggest social media mental health–related seeking and sharing behaviors have the potential to facilitate coping surrounding mental health.

Mental Health Symptoms Predicting American College Students’ Academic Performance: The Moderating Role of Peer Support

For the current study, we examined the effects of anxiety and depressive symptoms on college students’ academic performance, as moderated by peer support. An online survey was completed by 174 college students (75.3% women, 57.3% White) at a university in the southeast United States, targeting their symptoms of anxiety and depression, perceptions of peer support, and self-report GPA. Utilizing multiple regression analyses to test for moderation, it was found that, although anxiety and depression each negatively predicted students’ college GPA, these connections were moderated by perceived peer support. When students perceived having higher levels of peer support, this buffered against the negative effects of anxiety and depression on their GPA. These findings can contribute to our knowledge of how to support college students’ academic performance in the face of mental health experiences.

How do internal factors impact career adaptability of undergraduate Papua students?

Abstract. The data from this study show that students from the region of Papua tend to have difficulty adapting to lectures, have low graduation rates, have difficulty attending lectures, and so on, indicating a low likelihood of career adaptability. The distinctive characteristics of Papuan people result in many of them conforming to social influences, such as friendships while prioritizing friendships over academics. On the other hand, students from the region of Papua who excelled at the lecture may have an intrinsicunderlying value to their success. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the career adaptability of Papuan students as influenced by core self-evaluation (CSE) and perceived peer support (PPS) as internal factors. The respondents of this study were 176 Papuan undergraduate students enrolled in universities throughout Papua and other provinces in Indonesia. The instruments of this study, which were distributed online, included the Social Provision Scale, the Core Self-Evaluation Scale, and the Career Adaptability Scale.Data processing was carried out by using multiple regression with stepwise method. The results show that CSE and PPS significantly contribute to the career adaptability of Papuan students in tertiary institutions. These results are expected to provide insight into the significance of developing a positive core self-evaluation and perceptions of peer support to increase career adaptability. The limitation is in online data collection, which limits feedback if some items are not understood. In addition, it is not possible to determine the seriousness of the respondents when filling out the questionnaire. The average respondents already have fairly good CSE indicating fairly good educational orientation, which is different from thegeneral phenomenon observed in other Papuan students.Keywords: career adaptability; core self-evaluation; perceived peer support; Papuan undergraduate students.

Study on Innovative Behavior of “X” Hotel Employees In Surabaya

Uncertainty is always faced in an ever-changing business environment, this makes organizations must have the readiness and ability to create innovations. This study aims to analyze the effect of perceived peer support and perceived organizational support on innovative behavior. This study uses work engagement as a mediating variable, and leader-member exchange as a moderating variable. This research was conducted at Hotel X Surabaya, which is part of a four-star national hotel chain. The sample used is the operational employees of Hotel X Surabaya, which means 40 employees. Next, the trial uses the least-squares portion (PLS). The results of this study indicate that work engagement fully mediates the relationship between perceived peer support and innovative behavior. This shows that the perception of peer support does not directly affect innovative behavior. Furthermore, on the relationship between perceived organizational support and innovative behavior, the job involvement variable partially mediates. This study also shows the results that leader-member exchange strengthens the relationship between perceived organizational support and innovative behavior. Thus, for high-level leader-exchange members, the relationship between perceived organizational support and innovative behavior was stronger than for low-leader-member exchanges.

Study on Innovative Behavior of “X” Hotel Employees In Surabaya

Uncertainty is always faced in an ever-changing business environment, this makes organizations must have the readiness and ability to create innovations. This study aims to analyze the effect of perceived peer support and perceived organizational support on innovative behavior. This study uses work engagement as a mediating variable, and leader-member exchange as a moderating variable. This research was conducted at Hotel X Surabaya, which is part of a four-star national hotel chain. The sample used is the operational employees of Hotel X Surabaya, which means 40 employees. Next, the trial uses the least-squares portion (PLS). The results of this study indicate that work engagement fully mediates the relationship between perceived peer support and innovative behavior. This shows that the perception of peer support does not directly affect innovative behavior. Furthermore, on the relationship between perceived organizational support and innovative behavior, the job involvement variable partially mediates. This study also shows the results that leader-member exchange strengthens the relationship between perceived organizational support and innovative behavior. Thus, for high-level leader-exchange members, the relationship between perceived organizational support and innovative behavior was stronger than for low-leader-member exchanges.