Positive Support Behavior Research Articles

ReACH2Gether: Iterative Development of a Couples-Based Intervention to Reduce Alcohol use Among Sexual Minority Men Living with HIV and Their Partners.

Unhealthy alcohol use, which encompasses heavy episodic drinking to alcohol use disorder, has been identified as a modifiable barrier to optimal HIV care continuum outcomes. Despite the demonstrated efficacy of couples-based interventions for addressing unhealthy alcohol use, there are no existing couples-based alcohol interventions designed specifically for people living with HIV. This study presents the development and refinement of a three-session couples-based motivational intervention (ReACH2Gether) to address unhealthy alcohol use among a sample of 17 sexual minority men living with HIV and their partners living in the United States. To increase potential population reach, the intervention was delivered entirely remotely. Throughout an original and a modified version, results indicated that the ReACH2Gether intervention was acceptable and there were no reports of intimate partner violence or adverse events. Session engagement and retention were high. In pre-post-test analyses, the ReACH2Gether intervention showed trends in reducing Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test scores and increasing relationship-promoting dynamics, such as positive support behaviors and goal congruence around alcohol use. Results support the need for continued work to evaluate the ReACH2Gether intervention.

Social Anxiety Disorder and Social Support Behavior in Friendships

Relationship quality is a strong predictor of health outcomes, and individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) report increased interpersonal impairment. However, there are few studies testing the effect of SAD on friendships and it is thus unclear whether there are behavioral differences that distinguish friendships in which a target individual has SAD from friendships in which the target individual does not have SAD. We tested for differences in the provision and receipt of support behaviors as a function of having a SAD diagnosis and accounting for comorbid depressive symptoms. Participants with SAD (n = 90) and their friends engaged in support conversations that were coded using the Social Support Interaction Coding System. Structural equation modeling revealed some differences between participants and friends when accounting for depression. Specifically, friends of participants with SAD and comorbid depression engaged in fewer positive helper behaviors than the friends of participants who did not have SAD or comorbid depression. Additionally, dyads in which the primary participant had SAD engaged in more off-task behaviors. Results suggest that SAD does not result in global interpersonal impairment, but that receipt of positive support behaviors from friends may differ as a function of SAD and comorbid depression. Interpersonal interventions aimed at increasing adaptive friendships and aspects of CBT that target subtle avoidance (e.g., safety behaviors) may be useful in facilitating more satisfactory relationships for these individuals.

Physical aggression, compromised social support, and 10-year marital outcomes: Testing a relational spillover model.

The purpose of the present study was to test a relational spillover model of physical aggression whereby physical aggression affects marital outcomes due to its effects on how spouses ask for and provide support to one another. Newlywed couples (n = 172) reported levels of physical aggression over the past year and engaged in interactions designed to elicit social support; marital adjustment, and stability were assessed periodically over the first 10 years of marriage. Multilevel modeling revealed that negative support behavior mediated the relationship between physical aggression and 10-year marital adjustment levels whereas positive support behavior mediated the relationship between physical aggression and divorce status. These findings emphasize the need to look beyond conflict when explaining how aggression affects relationships and when working with couples with a history of physical aggression who are seeking to improve their relationships.

Internet addiction among Chinese adolescents: The effect of parental behavior and self-control

A cross-sectional study of a large, middle-school student sample (N=966) was presented in this paper aiming to examine how parental behavior and self-control influence Internet addiction (IA) among Chinese adolescents. Fifty-one adolescents (the top 5% of IA score distribution) were categorized as at high risk. Males were more likely addicted to Internet than females. MANOVA demonstrated that, compared with non-IA group, adolescents with IA revealed lower mean score for parental positive support behavior and higher for parental negative control behavior and had lower capacity of self-control. SEM analyses revealed that low capacity of self-control had a negative correlation with parents’ positive support and a positive correlation with negative control. More importantly, Internet addiction was explained negatively by parents’ positive support and positively by parents’ negative control and individual low capacity of self-control. Further mediating analyses indicated that self-control accounted for an indirect role between parental behavior and adolescents’ Internet addiction. The findings of the present study are of significance in investigating adolescents’ problem behaviors and very helpful to provide educational advice for intervening in these behaviors. Moreover, the present finding’s potential relevance to Confucian styles of filial parenting was discussed.

Observed Social Support Behaviors and Cancer-Related Cognitive Processing in Couples Coping with Head and Neck Cancer (HNC)

Abstract Given the disfiguring and debilitating nature of HNC and its treatment, patients and their spouses are at risk of experiencing trauma symptoms including cognitive intrusion and avoidance which may exacerbate psychological distress. Even though the Social Cognitive Processing Model (SCPM) posits that social support facilitates adaptive cognitive processing, recent literature has pointed to harmful effects of received support. Most studies use self-report measures of perceived as opposed to actual received support focusing on the patient as the recipient of support. In reality, the support process is reciprocal and interdependent involving both receiving and providing support in both patients and spouses. Further, self-reports of cognitive processing are susceptible to self-presentation and defensive biases. The purpose of this research was to examine the association between actual observed support behaviors and cognitive intrusion and avoidance in 60 newly diagnosed HNC patients (87% male) and their spouses using a multi-method approach. As part of an ongoing longitudinal study, couples completed baseline questionnaires including an explicit measure of cognitive intrusion and avoidance (IES), completed a problem-solving discussion task in the laboratory immediately followed by an implicit assessment of cognitive intrusion (cancer Stroop task (CST)). We used the Social Support Interaction Coding System (SSICS) to code the video-recorded discussions. Dyadic analyses using multi-level modeling revealed that when patients and spouses received more (compared to less) positive support behaviors, they demonstrated slower reaction times (RT) on the CST (p < .01) indicating greater cognitive intrusion. The results were similar using the self-report method (IES; p < .05). No role differences (patients vs. spouses) were found. The current findings map on to recent literature suggesting that receiving support may be initially distressing in the acute phase of the traumatic event as it may elicit negative emotional responses, which are yet necessary to facilitate successful long-term adjustment. Thus, our next step in this ongoing longitudinal study is to examine long-term consequences of these findings as they will reveal clinical implications.

Social support, problem solving, and the longitudinal course of newlywed marriage.

Married couples (N = 172) were observed as newlyweds and observed again 1 year later while engaging in 2 problem-solving and 2 personal support discussions. Microanalytic coding of these conversations was used to examine associations between problem-solving and social support behaviors for 1 year and their relative contributions to 10-year trajectories of self-reported relationship satisfaction and dissolution. Results demonstrated that initially lower levels of positive support behaviors and higher levels of negative support behaviors predicted 1-year increases in negative emotion displayed during problem-solving conversations. Emotions coded from the initial problem-solving conversations did not predict 1-year changes in social support behaviors. Controlling for emotions displayed during problem-solving interactions eliminated or reduced associations between initial social support behaviors and (a) later levels of satisfaction and (b) relationship dissolution. These findings corroborate models that prioritize empathy, validation, and caring as key elements in the development of intimacy (e.g., Reis & Shaver, 1988) and suggest that deficits in these domains foreshadow deterioration in problem solving and conflict management. Implications for integrating support and problem solving in models of relationship change are outlined, as are implications for incorporating social support in education programs for developing relationships.

Social support, quality of life, and self-care behaviors amongAfrican Americans with type 2 diabetes.

The purpose of this study was to examine social support and its relationship to diabetes-specific quality of life and self-care behaviors in African Americans with type 2 diabetes. The study followed a cross-sectional, observational design and recruited 89 African American adults, age 40 and older (mean = 60, SD = 10.5), diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Participants completed measures assessing diabetes-specific quality of life, self-care behaviors (healthy eating, physical activity, self-monitoring of blood glucose, foot care, medication and/or insulin use), demographic background, and diabetes-related social support. Diabetes-related social support variables included amount of social support received, satisfaction with support, positive support behavior, negative support behavior, and primary source of support. Stepwise regressions, controlling for demographic variables, were conducted to identify predictors of diabetes-specific quality of life and self-care behaviors from the diabetes-related social support variables. Satisfaction with support was a predictor for improved diabetes-specific quality of life (r = -.579, P < .001) and blood glucose monitoring (r = .258, P < .05). Positive support behavior was a predictor for following a healthy eating plan (r = .280, P < .05), spacing out carbohydrates evenly throughout the day (r = .367, P < .01), and performing physical activity at least 30 minutes per day (r = .296, P < .05). Negative support behavior was a predictor for not taking medication as recommended (r = -.348, P < .01). Findings indicate that social support plays a role in diabetes-specific quality of life and self-management practices. Social support encompasses multiple dimensions that differentially influence specific diabetes health-related outcomes and behaviors.