Positive Influence Of Social Support Research Articles

Social support experiences of hispanic/latino parents of childhood cancer survivors in a safety-net hospital: a qualitative study

Purpose To describe the social support experiences of Hispanic/Latino parents while caregiving for childhood cancer survivors. Research approach Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted among 15 caregivers from a safety-net hospital in Los Angeles. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyze data. Findings The positive influence of social support throughout their caregiving experience included (1) sharing information-enhanced knowledge, (2) receiving comfort and encouragement, (3) receiving tangible assistance reducing the caregiving burden, and (4) enhancing caregiving empowerment/self-efficacy. Sub-themes regarding the lack of social support included (1) being a single parent and (2) family and friends withdrawing after the child’s cancer diagnosis. Conclusion We found Hispanic/Latino parents strongly value social support as it enables them to have essential resources that support caregiving for their child and themselves. Efforts should ensure that caregivers are routinely screened to identify their supportive needs so that support services for caregivers can be optimized and tailored, as those with a lack of social support may experience excessive caregiver burden.

Abstract B115: A qualitative study on caregiving social support among Hispanic/Latino parents of childhood cancer survivors in a safety-net hospital

Abstract Background: Parents are the primary caregivers throughout their child's cancer journey. As a result, they may experience a shift in their self and social identity both immediately and in the long term after their child is diagnosed with cancer. Insights into Hispanic/Latino parents of childhood cancer survivors' social support is limited, however. This qualitative study aimed to address the existing gap by describing the social support experiences of Hispanic/Latino parents while caregiving. Methods: Caregivers were recruited from a safety-net hospital in Los Angeles County between July to September 2020. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 Hispanic/Latino caregivers of childhood cancer survivors (in English and Spanish). The interviews were audio-recorded, professionally transcribed, and analyzed following a reflexive thematic analysis approach. Two coders independently reviewed and coded transcripts and used grounded theory methodology elements (e.g., gerund coding and memo-writing) on Dedoose. Results: Two related themes were identified: the positive influence of social support when available and the challenges associated with lack of social support. All caregivers spoke about the positive influence of social support throughout their caregiving experience (both during and after treatment). Participants' descriptions of the influence of social support included (1) information sharing enhanced knowledge, (2) receiving comfort and encouragement, (3) receiving tangible assistance reducing the caregiving burden, and (4) enhancing caregiving empowerment/self-efficacy. The most common form of social support among these caregivers was tangible assistance, which included financial support for groceries, bills, rent, and essential services such as transportation, work hour flexibility, childcare for other children, and help with household maintenance. Sub-themes regarding the lack of social support included (1) being a single parent and (2) family and friends withdrawing after the child's cancer diagnosis. Single parents described juggling multiple roles, including caring for the patient, maintaining financial support for the entire family, and caring for other children while managing their child's illness. One caregiver expressed that "if there were two of us [during treatment], it would have been easier." Conclusion: When a child is diagnosed with cancer, parents are the primary caregivers and the presence or absence of social support may impact their caregiving experience, particularly for Latino/Hispanic caregivers who are medically underserved. The findings of this study indicate that Hispanic/Latino parents strongly value social support as it enables them to have essential resources that support caregiving for their child and themselves. Efforts should ensure that caregivers are routinely screened to identify their supportive needs. In an effort to optimize support services for caregivers, it needs to be tailored as those with a lack of social support may experience excessive caregiver burden. Citation Format: Carol Ochoa, Randall Y. Chan, Lissette Cervantes, Kimberly A. Miller. A qualitative study on caregiving social support among Hispanic/Latino parents of childhood cancer survivors in a safety-net hospital [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 Sep 16-19; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B115.

Social support across eating disorder diagnostic groups: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III)

IntroductionPrevious studies have suggested the positive influence of social support on the treatment and recovery of eating disorders (EDs). Yet, more research is needed on how objective and subjective social support differ between ED diagnostic groups using nationally representative data. Therefore, the current secondary data analysis examined associations between EDs and objective and subjective social support using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III) study. MethodsParticipants completed measures of lifetime and past year diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge-eating disorder (BED) and items assessing objective social support (i.e., number of close friends and close relatives) and subjective social support (i.e., perceptions of availability of support). ResultsCompared to those without EDs, those with AN, BN, and BED had poorer subjective social support—or lower perceptions of social support. However, there were fewer differences regarding objective social support. Individuals with BN reported a lower number of close relatives compared to those without EDs and those with AN, but there were no differences in the number of close friends between ED groups. Those who experienced remission from EDs had higher perceptions of social support compared to those with past year EDs. DiscussionThe findings show deficits in subjective social support across EDs but only lower objective social support in BN. This highlights the clinical utility of increasing perceptions of social support across EDs. The findings also show the importance of perceived social support in recovery from EDs.

Quality of Life in Adult Patients With Epilepsy in Lebanon: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Epilepsy is a chronic and heterogeneous neurological disorder that impairs the quality of life (QOL) of sufferersand affects their mental health in many aspects. Few studies have been conducted in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon, on the QOL of patients with epilepsy. The aim of our study is to assess the burden of epilepsy on the life of adult patients in Lebanon and measure the impact of sociodemographic and clinical factors on the QOL. A total of 47 patients from several neurology clinics were included in our study and asked to fill out a questionnaire including the sociodemographic variables and epilepsy-related factors. We used the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Scale-31 (QOLIE-31), which is a 31-question form covering seven attributes of the QOL; overall QOL, emotional wellbeing, social functioning, cognition, energy, seizure worry and medication effects, to assess the QOL of adult patients with epilepsy. Analysis was conducted using SPSS program version 23. The mean age of our sample was 37.54 years, 53.2% of which were males. The majority were unemployed, educated, and belonging to the medium socioeconomic level. The highest subscale score was for the social functioning subscale with a mean of 74.49±25.89 and the lowest subscale score was for seizure worry with a mean of 55.81±27.14. Employment status, nationality, and socioeconomic level were shown to be associated with the QOL scores. There were no correlations between the clinical factors and the QOL scores. Sociodemographic factors, namelyLebanese nationality, employment status, and socioeconomic level, were associated with better QOL, reflected by the significant associations between the following parameters and the QOL scores (p-value<0.05), highlighting the positive influence of social support on the outcome of the disease. However, epilepsy-related clinical features did not show any correlation with the QOL and its subscales.

Effect of Social Support on Indonesian Students Entrepreneurial Intention Formation with Entrepreneurial Passion as Mediating Variable

Purpose: The number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia is still lagging compared to several other ASEAN countries, so there is an urgency to explore the factors that influence the formation of entrepreneurial intentions as predictors of entrepreneurial behavior. Therefore, this study investigates the influence of social support and entrepreneurial passion on forming entrepreneurial intentions. Furthermore, this study investigates whether entrepreneurial passion mediates the relationship between social support and entrepreneurial intention.&#x0D; Design/Methodology/Approach: This study used a quantitative approach with a single cross-sectional descriptive research type on 268 samples of student respondents in Indonesia. The sampling technique used is purposive sampling. Data analysis in this study was carried out with the PLS-SEM technique.&#x0D; Findings: The results of this study confirm the direct positive influence of social support on entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial intention, as well as the direct positive influence of entrepreneurial passion on entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, the study showed that entrepreneurial passion partially mediates the relationship between social support and entrepreneurial intention.&#x0D; Implications/Originality/Value: The results of this study enrich the study of entrepreneurial literature related to entrepreneurial passion and social support, mainly how social support as a contextual variable affects entrepreneurial passion. The study's results also enrich entrepreneurship literature because it investigates entrepreneurial passion as a mediator between social support and entrepreneurial intention.

Influence Mechanism of Social Support of Online Travel Platform on Customer Citizenship Behavior.

Customer citizenship behavior has attracted widespread attention from scholars due to its capacity of enabling enterprises to gain competitive advantages of low costs and high efficiency by giving full play to the initiative of customers. Based on the S-O-R Model, we have established the theoretical model to study the influence imposed by social support of online travel platform enterprises on customer citizenship behavior against the backdrop of the sharing economy. This research tests the fitting of the theoretical model and its fundamental hypotheses using 626 samples acquired from the investigation with SPSS26.0 and AMOS25.0. Results indicate that the social support has a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior. Social support could have a positive influence on positive emotions. Social support has no significant negative effect on negative emotions. Positive emotions have a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior. Negative emotions have a negative influence on customer citizenship behavior. Positive emotions play a mediating effect in the positive influence of social support on customer citizenship behavior. Social support could have a positive influence on customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction has a positive influence on customer citizenship behavior. Customer satisfaction plays a mediating effect in the positive effect of social support on customer citizenship behavior. Positive emotions and customer satisfaction play a chain mediating effect in the positive effect of social support on customer citizenship behavior.

Tracking the impact of COVID-19 in Victoria, Australia: Shocks, vulnerability and insurances among residents of share houses

COVID-19 is re-shaping cities and regions, as residents respond to large disruptions to employment and social interaction and threats to public health. While the impacts of COVID-19 are extensive, certain groups are more vulnerable than others. Our research examines the impact of COVID-19 on members of share houses in the state of Victoria, Australia. This cohort is more likely to be young, casually employed, living in informal arrangements and at risk of homelessness than the broader population. We propose a conceptual framework for investigating the factors driving vulnerability to shocks and the resources most likely to support individuals to respond to or recover from these shocks. We surveyed 1052 share house occupants in June 2020. We found dramatic results, with 74% losing their job or having their hours reduced, 47% experiencing a reduction in their financial situation and 50% reporting that their mental health had deteriorated. These outcomes were worse for young people, casual employees or immigrants. Our research highlights the positive influence of social support for low-income individuals. We find that government social welfare payments are the most impactful form of insurance, calling for a greater appreciation of the role of social welfare in supporting resilience following a disaster.

Discriminación, apoyo social y bienestar psicológico en personas con trastornos mentales

En esta investigación se estudian los discursos y prácticas relacionados con la salud mental en la ciudad de Sevilla observando la influencia de estos sobre el bienestar psicológico de sujetos con trastornos bipolar y depresión. No sólo se trata de visibilizar un fenómeno de gran importancia de cara al futuro sanitario, sino que se hace desde una perspectiva diferente, una perspectiva social. Frente a enfoques hegemónicamente biologicistas en el abordaje de la salud, la visión de las ciencias sociales puede enriquecer notablemente el conocimiento respecto al tema tratado, generando oportunidades difíciles de ver desde otras posiciones.&#x0D; Se emplea una metodología cualitativa que pone en evidencia la variabilidad discursiva de cara al fenómeno estudiado, así como la influencia positiva del apoyo social sobre el bienestar psicológico de sujetos con trastornos mentales.

Positive Influences of Social Support on Sense of Community, Life Satisfaction and the Health of Immigrants in Spain.

The main objective of this study was to investigate the association of social support and the sense of community (SOC) with satisfaction with life (SWL) and immigrant health. We propose a model in which perceived social support from close sources (family and friends), as mediated by SOC and life satisfaction, would be positively associated with mental and physical health. Limited evidence exists from multivariate models that concurrently examine the association of both factors with SWL and health-related outcomes. We investigate the hypothesized association in a structural equations model (SEM) analysis. The participants consisted of 1131 immigrants (49% men and 51% women) (age 18–70, M = 33). The study was conducted in Malaga (Spain). Cross-sectional data were collected using a random-route sampling and survey methodology. In this model, greater social support from native friends was associated with a greater SOC. Social support from family and native friends was associated with greater SWL. Also, a greater SOC was associated with greater SWL. No association was found between SOC and mental health symptoms, whereas, greater SWL was associated with fewer mental health and illness symptoms. These results suggest that among immigrants, support networks involving family and native friends, and integration into the community are important influences for immigrants to achieve life satisfaction. These results are widely applicable and have implications that are relevant to the design of health promotion interventions.

Associations of social support and alexithymia with psychological distress in Finnish young adults.

The positive influence of social support on psychological wellbeing is well documented but the research among young adults is scarce. Additionally, it is still unclear what type of social support explains the positive influence in this age group. Alexithymia has been linked to lacking social support and higher levels of psychological distress, but the underlying mechanisms are not well known. We aimed to assess the association of social support and alexithymia with psychological distress in a sample of young adults. The non-clinical sample comprised 316 young Finnish adults (mean age 23 years). Psychological distress was assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), alexithymia was measured with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and social support with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The associations were assessed using regression analyses. The TAS-20 (p = 0.002) and MSPSS (p = < 0.001) total scores were significantly associated with the GHQ-12 scores even after adjustment for sociodemographic variables. For the model with the TAS-20 and MSPSS subscales, the Difficulty Identifying Feelings subscale score of the TAS-20 scale (p < 0.001) and the Family subscale score of the MSPSS scale (p = 0.010) were significantly associated with the GHQ-12 scores. Our results show that low social support and high levels of alexithymia are associated with increased psychological distress both in females and males. Perceived social support from family explained the association between social support and psychological distress to a significant extent. Regarding alexithymia, the association with psychological distress was mainly related to difficulties identifying feelings.

Women\u2019s health and well-being in low-income formal and informal neighbourhoods on the eve of the armed conflict in Aleppo

ObjectivesTo explore how married women living in low-income formal and informal neighbourhoods in Aleppo, Syria, perceived the effects of neighbourhood on their health and well-being, and the relevance of these findings to future urban rebuilding policies post-conflict.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were undertaken with eighteen married women living in informal or socioeconomically disadvantaged formal neighbourhoods in Aleppo in 2011, a year before the armed conflict caused massive destruction in all these neighbourhoods.ResultsOur findings suggest that the experience of neighbourhood social characteristics is even more critical to women’s sense of well-being than environmental conditions and physical infrastructure. Most prominent was the positive influence of social support on well-being.ConclusionsThe significance of this study lies, first, in its timing, before the widespread destruction of both formal and informal neighbourhoods in Aleppo and, second, and in its indication of the views of women who lived in marginalised communities on what neighbourhood characteristics mattered to them. Further research post-conflict needs to explore how decisions on urban rebuilding are made and their likely influence on health and well-being.

Understanding Social Factors in the Context of Trauma: Implications for Measurement and Intervention

ABSTRACTOne of the most important factors predicting the presence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after trauma exposure is social support, yet the construct is theoretically complex and remains variably defined. To better inform the trauma literature on the impact of social factors, a theoretical review of social support and PTSD was conducted, and implications for measurement and intervention are outlined. Type of trauma, sex of participant, timing of social support, and support providers are described as significant moderators of the association between social factors and PTSD. The developmental trajectory of the association between social factors and PTSD occurrence is outlined, emphasizing the positive influence of social support initially following trauma, and the deterioration effect of PTSD symptoms on social support over the longer term. Possibilities for future research and intervention at multiple levels and at different time points are described.

“Having diabetes shouldn’t stop them”: healthcare professionals’ perceptions of physical activity in children with Type 1 diabetes

BackgroundHealthcare professionals (HCP) working with children who have Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) have an important role in advising about and supporting the control of blood glucose level in relation to physical activity. Regular physical activity has known benefits for children with T1DM, but children with chronic conditions may face barriers to participation. The perceptions of HCPs were explored in an effort to understand what influences physical activity in children with T1DM and to inform the practice of those working with children who have T1DM.MethodsSemi-structured interviews with 11 HCPs involved in the care of children with T1DM in the UK were conducted. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and data were analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsThe factors perceived to influence participation in physical activity are presented as five major themes and eleven sub-themes. Themes included the positive influence of social support, the child’s motivation to be active, the potential for formal organisations such as school and diabetes clinic to support physical activity, the challenges faced by those who have T1DM and the perceived barriers to HCPs fulfilling their role of promoting physical activity.ConclusionsHealthcare professionals recognised their role in helping children with T1DM and their parents to incorporate physical activity into diabetes management and everyday life, but perceived barriers to the successful fulfilment of this role. The findings highlight the potential for clinical and non-clinical supportive systems to be sensitive to these challenges and facilitate children’s regular participation in physical activity.

The role of social support in anxiety and depression among Parkinson’s disease patients

Purpose: To explore how social support is associated with anxiety and depression in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients controlling for gender, disease duration and disease severity. Methods: The sample consisted of 124 patients (52.4% male; mean age 68.1 ± 8.4 years; mean disease duration 6.3 ± 5.5 years). Anxiety and depression were measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, social support with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and disease severity with the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale. Data were analyzed using linear regression. Results: Gender, disease duration, disease severity and social support explained 31% of the total variance in anxiety in younger PD patients but did not significantly contribute to the explanation of depression. In the older group, this model explained 41% of the variance in depression but did not significantly contribute to the explanation of anxiety. Conclusion: PD patients experience the positive influence of social support differently according to age. In the younger group, disease duration plays the primary role regarding anxiety. In the older group, poor social support especially from friends is associated with more depression after controlling for the relevant variables.Implications of RehabilitationPD is a disease of older age with a neurodegenerative character and treatment should focus on increasing quality of life.Anxiety and depression are common co-morbidities in PD patients.The support network should also be screened regularly and involved in enhancing the quality of life.

Influence salutaire de la compétence émotionnelle sur l’anxiété face à la santé

The construct of emotional intelligence (trait EI) refers to the individual differences in the perception, processing, regulation and utilization of emotional information. Several studies have found that trait EI was a significant moderator of response to stress. The present study explores whether trait EI also influences the response to internal stress: the health-related anxiety. More specifically, the aim of this study was to test the influence of Trait EI dimensions: Self-control, Emotional sensitivity and Adaptability, on health-related beliefs: Magic thinking, Tragic consequences of disease, Liability to disease and Vulnerability to disease. A sample of 119 individuals from the general population, aged 18–72years participated in this research (65% women, mean age 37.55years). They answered a questionnaire on the web consists of two validated scales: TEIQue (Petrides & Furnham, 2003) and the Health-related beliefs Questionnaire (Pelletier, Gosselin, Langlois & Ladouceur, in 2000), as well as socio-demographic variables. Descriptive analysis and t-tests were first performed, and correlations and variance and, finally, linear regression analysis. All these tests were performed using the statistical software SPSS® Statistics® IBM. The results indicate that high trait EI individuals exhibit less health-related anxiety (β=−0.259, P=0.004), feel less vulnerable to disease (β=−0.275, P=0.002) and consider less tragic consequences of the disease (β=−0.189, P=0.039). This last dimension appears as the most multi-determined both by the dimensions of IE trait: total IE and Emotional adaptability (β=−0.313, P=0.001) but also by age (β=−0.289, P=0.001) and gender (F=4.74, P=0.03). Adaptability appears as the dimension of EI trait affecting the largest number of beliefs associated with health-related anxiety: Tragic consequences of disease (β=−0.313, P=0.001), responsibility towards illness (β=−0.22, P=0.016), Vulnerability to disease (β=−0.3, P=0.001) and the overall level of health-related anxiety (β=−0.338, P<0.001). In addition, our research confirms that the level of education is independent of the level of EI (F=0.217, P=0.642ns) and secondly, that health-related anxiety was independent of previous individual experiences of illness (F=1.008, P=0.318ns). Analysis of the results to suggest that the level of emotional competence negatively influence the level of anxiety about health, that means that the way people pay attention, process and use emotional information (intrapersonal or interpersonal nature) plays a role in the anxiety about health. These results are consistent with the literature (including Mikolajczak et al., in 2009) and strengthen, if necessary, the moderate nature of emotional competence to deal with stress and anxiety in general. The emotional adaptability was confirmed as a factor influencing the anxiety about health generally and specifically on the tragic perception of consequences of diseases and the subjective perception of personal vulnerability to diseases, but it also appeared as factor acting on the belief in the responsibility for disease. The adaptability is proving to be the dimension of emotional competence that influences more constitutive dimensions of anxiety about health. Our research has also highlighted the lack of linkages, however expected between the dimensions of emotional competence and those of anxiety about health, especially regarding the sociability: characteristic dimension – if necessary – to emotional competence, it is not a factor in the overall level of anxiety about health or its dimensions. However, the analysis show that the level of sociability is related to levels of belief in magical thinking and anxiety about health, which suggests the presence of moderators. This cons-intuitive result is also contrary to previous researches that show a direct positive influence of social support and, by extension, membership as a mechanism of defense, on impact of stress and level of anxiety. Developing emotional competence produces beneficial effects at various levels and is involved in treating various disorders; a therapeutic work focused specifically on developing adaptability, taking into account the specific age and sex, would optimize the management of people with anxiety about health.

Supportive Relationships, Self-care Confidence, and Heart Failure Self-care

The theory of heart failure (HF) self-care proposes that confidence mediates relationships between social support and self-care behaviors. This study aimed to examine the effects of supportive relationships on self-care behaviors and the mediating effects of self-care confidence in HF outpatients. Structural equation modeling (SAS version 9.1, SAS Institute Inc, Cary, North Carolina) was used to examine the influence of supportive relationships and self-care confidence on self-care management and maintenance in a cross-section of patients with HF (n = 97; age = 56 years; 57% men; 45% African American; 55% married). Models included 3 variables characterizing supportive relationships: marital status (1 = currently married, 0 = not currently married), social network size (number of persons available to provide support), and perceived social support (Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Scale). To account for the effects of severity of illness, 2 measures characterizing severity of HF were included: left ventricular ejection fraction and New York Heart Association functional classification of HF. The Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (version 4) was used to measure self-care confidence, management, and maintenance. A consensus of fit indices estimated overall model fit. Initial models fit the data; however, to improve fit and identify the most parsimonious models, 3 nonsignificant paths were removed, and modified models, including only social support and social network size, were proposed and tested. Modified models fit the data well and accounted for 15% in the variance in self-care maintenance (χ(2) P = .29) and 18% of the variance in self-care management (χ(2) P = .631). The indirect effect of social support (β = 0.37; P = .0004) through self-care confidence (β = 0.35; P = .0002) on self-care management, in the absence of a significant direct effect, supports the hypothesis that self-care confidence mediates the relationship between social support and self-care management. Social network size had a negative effect on self-care confidence (β = -0.22; P = .029), but this effect was mediated by self-care confidence (β = 0.33; P = .0002), which reduced the total negative effects. Self-care confidence was the best predictor of self-care management. In the self-care maintenance model, direct (β = 0.27; P = .003) and indirect effects of social support (β = 0.37; P = .0002) on self-care maintenance through self-care confidence (β = 0.22; P = .001) attenuated negative effects of social network size (β = -0.22; P = .0145). Social support was the best predictor of self-care maintenance. Findings support the positive influence of social support on self-care behaviors. Self-care confidence mediated the relationship between social support and self-care behaviors and had direct influence on these behaviors as well. This suggests that self-care confidence and self-care behaviors can be enhanced by improving the quality of social support.

Relationships among social support, psychological and physical states among elderly Japanese women with breast cancer

Background/Objective: Although some studies conducted in Western cultures have identified positive influences of social support on the psychological and physical states of elderly women with breast cancer, few studies have investigated the relationships between social support and its effects on health outcomes in elderly Japanese women with breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to describe and investigate the relationships among social support, social support network, and psychological and physical states among elderly Japanese women with breast cancer. Methods: Elderly Japanese women with breast cancer (n=65) participated in the study. Measures used in this study were the Japanese versions of instruments with established reliability and validity: (1) the Social Support Scale for Japanese Elderly (SSSJE); (2) the Visual Analogue Scale for Social Support (VASSS); (3) the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and (4) the Physical States Interview Form (PSIF). Data analysis included descriptive, t-tests, and Pearson’s correlations. Results : Descriptive statistics showed that the size of the social support network ranged from 2 to 34 (M=9.09; SD=6.57). Comparisons of psychological states showed a significant difference between the women who were over and under 70 years old. Psychological states significantly correlated with social support network and conflict among elderly Japanese women with breast cancer. Conclusions: The results reveal that there are significant relationships among social support, social support network, and psychological and physical states among elderly Japanese women with breast cancer. The results reveal that there are significant relationships among social support, social support network, and psychological and physical states among elderly Japanese women with breast cancer. Nurses should provide information on social support as an important factor to help elderly Japanese women with breast cancer.

The Influence of Social Support on the Lived Experiences of Spinal Cord Injured Sportsmen

This study draws upon life history data to investigate the influence of social support on the lives of 6 men who had acquired a spinal cord injury and become disabled through playing sport. Interviews were analyzed utilizing categorical-content analysis (Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, &amp; Zilber, 1998). The participants experienced emotional, esteem, informational, and tangible support (Rees &amp; Hardy, 2000) from various sources. Alongside the positive influence of social support, examples are shown of inappropriate or negatively-experienced support and where participants considered sport to be lacking. The spinal cord injured person is encouraged to be proactive in resourcing social support, but providers might also be taught to recognize the impact, either positively or negatively, that their giving support can have.

Social support and parenting in poor, dangerous neighborhoods.

This study investigated how stressful environmental conditions influence the relation between mothers' social support and parenting strategies, utilizing interview data from a sample of 262 poor, African American single mothers and their seventh- and eighth-grade children, as well as objective data about respondents' neighborhoods. In general, the results indicated that neighborhood conditions moderate the relation between social support and parenting behaviors. Specifically, as neighborhood conditions worsened, the positive relation between emotional support and mothers' nurturant parenting was weakened. In a similar fashion, the negative relation between instrumental social support and punishment was stronger in better neighborhoods. As the surrounding environments became poorer and more dangerous, the relation between greater instrumental support and a lower reliance on punishment was weakened. Thus, on the whole, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the positive influences of social support on parenting behavior were strained and attenuated in poorer, high-crime environments.

Negative and positive influences of social support on depression in patients with head and neck cancer: a prospective study.

Patients with head and neck cancer have to cope not only with a life threatening diagnosis, but also with an altered facial appearance and the loss or impairment of important functions as a result of treatment. As a consequence they are prone to psychosocial problems. Social support might influence their ability to adapt to the illness and its treatment. The aim of this prospective study is to examine the influence of different aspects of social support on the depressive symptomatology in head and neck cancer patients treated with surgery and/or radiotherapy. Patients completed a questionnaire relating to available and received support, the extent of the social network, depressive symptoms, and general health complaints before and 6 months after treatment. Received support was found to be associated with more depressive symptomatology at baseline and available support led to less depressive symptomatology. The relationship between social support and depressive symptoms was especially apparent in patients with few general health complaints. Whereas the availability of support seemed to be beneficial regardless of the situation, the effect of received support was equivocal. The provision of support should be tailored to the needs of the individual patient.