Social Contextual Factors Research Articles

Use of a Rapid Qualitative Method to Inform the Development of a Text Messaging Intervention for People With Serious Mental Illness Who Smoke: Formative Research Study.

People with serious mental illness are disproportionately affected by smoking and face barriers to accessing smoking cessation treatments in mental health treatment settings. Text-based interventions are cost-effective and represent a widely accessible approach to providing smoking cessation support. We aimed to identify key factors for adapting text-based cessation interventions for people with serious mental illness who smoke. We recruited 24 adults from mental health programs who had a serious mental illness and currently smoked cigarettes or had quit smoking within the past 5 years. We then conducted virtual qualitative interviews between November 2020 and August 2021. Data were analyzed using the rapid thematic analytic approach. We identified the following 3 major themes: (1) interplay between smoking and having a serious mental illness, (2) social contextual factors of smoking in adults with serious mental illness, and (3) smoking and quitting behaviors similar to the general population. Participants reported barriers and facilitators to quitting across the 3 themes. Within the "interplay between smoking and having a serious mental illness" theme, barriers included smoking to manage stress and mental health symptoms, and facilitators to quitting included the awareness of the harm of smoking on mental health and patient-provider discussions on smoking and mental health. In the "social contextual factors of smoking in adults with serious mental illness" theme, barriers included high social acceptability of smoking among peers. Positive support and the combined social stigma of smoking and having a mental health condition outside of peer groups motivated individuals to quit. Some participants indicated that low exposure to other smokers during the COVID-19 pandemic helped them to engage in cessation efforts. In the "smoking and quitting behaviors similar to the general population" theme, barriers included smoking after eating, having coffee, drinking alcohol, and experiencing negative social support, and facilitators included health concerns, improvement in the general quality of life, and use of evidence-based tobacco treatments when available. People with serious mental illness often smoke to cope with intense emotional states, manage mental health symptoms, or maintain social bonds. Text message content emphasizing equally effective and less harmful ways for stress reduction and mental health symptom management may improve quit rates in individuals with serious mental illness.

How to plan for success? An exploration of social context factors in neighbourhood energy planning

It is essential to consider the social context when designing sustainable energy systems that lead to successful implementation in neighbourhoods. Current methods often only consider techno-economic aspects and are insufficiently capable of including social factors, because they are unclear about which social factors are relevant and how they can be quantified. This paper explores how neighbourhoods can be characterized socially by studying pre-existing neighbourhood characteristics, focussed on socio-economic status and social cohesion. The paper is built around four case-studies in the Netherlands, which are analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The paper shows how the social context can be defined by 1) proposing a theoretical framework of social factors, 2) quantifying these social factors by survey research, 3) interpretating this data using qualitative case-study data and 4) quantifying success in the cases and relating this to the scores of the survey data. The results of this explorative study will 1) show how a social profile can be used to find leads for a participative approach towards sustainable neighbourhoods where techno-economic solutions are well embedded in the social context and 2) help to understand and predict success of participation in communities.

Multilevel Antecedents of Individual Social Capital and its Effect on Task Performance

This research employs the social information processing theory to examine the multilevel antecedents of individual social capital and its effect on task performance. Based on a dyadic sample collected from Vietnamese employees, the findings show that organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) can enhance an individual’s stock of social capital, which in turn is advantageous to task performance. At the same time, individual-level leader-member exchange (LMX) quality and firm-level innovative culture, respectively, play a prominent moderating role in the link between OCB and social capital. This research contributes to the coevolution perspective of social capital by identifying the significance of individual’s social endeavors in accumulating his/her social resources under the influences of social contextual factors.

A Population-Based Study of Associations Among Child Screen Media Use, Social-Contextual Factors, and School Readiness.

Results of studies examining relations between child media use and school readiness have been inconsistent. Importantly, studies often focus on a single outcome domain (e.g., academic, social, or behavioral), making the comparison of relative importance difficult; fail to account for confounding variables; and fail to investigate social-contextual moderators. This study investigated relations among child media use exposure, social-contextual factors, and multiple domains of school readiness in preschool-aged children. Multivariate regression analyses were used to examine relations between child media use and 3 domains of school readiness (early learning, social-emotional skills, and self-regulation), controlling for demographic and social-contextual factors, and to investigate differential susceptibility by examining family income and 4 social-contextual factors (sleep, exposure to adverse childhood events, frequency of shared reading, and parent stress) as moderators in a large US population-based sample (N = 9323) of 3 to 5 year olds. After controlling for confounding variables, higher screentime was negatively related to children's social-emotional skills and self-regulation, but less so for early learning. Effect sizes were small. The relation between screentime and self-regulation was significantly moderated by family income, such that the relation was stronger for children from low-income backgrounds. No other evidence of significant moderation was found. Results add to evidence that the relation between screen media use and outcomes in young children is likely complex. Future work should prioritize examining impacts of screen media use on social and behavioral functioning to further inform the evaluation of relative benefits and costs of child screen media use.

Complexity in Advising for Language Learning: From Theory to Practice

Research on advising for language learning has benefited from various theoretical frameworks, such as sociocultural theory, ecological theory and, in recent years, the theory of complex dynamic systems. With its holistic perspective on second language acquisition, the theory of complex dynamic systems helps integrate the manifold aspects involved in language development. It recognizes the interrelation of individual and social aspects, of internal and contextual factors, and places the focus on the various, interconnected/ inseparable dimensions of the language learning process. In this paper I will first illustrate some principles of complex dynamic systems theory and their impact on research on second language acquisition and language learner autonomy. Then, I will focus on advising for language learning, as a means of supporting learners as they become more autonomous and they implement change in their unique learning trajectories. Drawing on research on advising from the perspective of complex dynamic systems, I will show how this metatheory helps expand our understanding of advising beyond its conceptualization as a one-to-one interaction between a learner (advisee) and an advisor, by integrating the reflective dialogue between advisor and advisee into additional processes in which both advisor and advisee are involved. Finally, I will reflect on some implications for my own advising practice.

An Intersectional Approach to Ethnoracial Disparities in Pathways to Care Among Individuals With Psychosis in Coordinated Specialty Care

Intersecting factors of social position including ethnoracial background may provide meaningful ways to understand disparities in pathways to care for people with a first episode of psychosis. To examine differences in pathways to care by ethnoracial groups and by empirically derived clusters combining multiple factors of social and clinical context in an ethnoracially diverse multisite early-intervention service program for first-episode psychosis. This cohort study used data collected on individuals with recent-onset psychosis (<2 years) by clinicians with standardized forms from October 2013 to January 2020 from a network of 21 coordinated specialty care (CSC) programs in New York State providing recovery-oriented, evidence-based psychosocial interventions and medications to young people experiencing early psychosis. Ethnoracial group and other factors of social position (eg, insurance status, living situation, English fluency, geographic region) intersecting with first-contact experiences (ie, type of first service, referral source, and symptoms at referral). Outcome measures were time from onset to first contact, first contact to CSC, and onset to CSC. The total study sample consists of 1726 individuals aged 16 to 30 years and included 452 women (26%), 1263 men (73%), and 11 (<1%) with another gender enrolled in the network of CSC programs. The total sample consisted of 153 Asian (9%), 599 Black (35%), 454 Latinx (26%), and 417 White individuals (24%). White individuals had a significantly shorter time from onset to first contact (median [IQR], 17 [0-80] days) than Asian (median [IQR], 34 [7-94] days) and Black (median [IQR], 30 [1-108] days) individuals but had the longest period from first contact to CSC (median [IQR], 102.5 [45-258] days). Five distinct clusters of individuals emerged that cut across ethnoracial groups. The more disadvantaged clusters in terms of both social position and first-contact experiences had the longest time from onset to first contact, which were longer than for any single ethnoracial group. In this cohort study of individuals with recent-onset psychosis, time-to-treatment outcomes differed by ethnoracial group and by empirically derived clusters combining multiple factors of social and clinical context. The examination of disparities in durations to treatment through an intersectional, ethnoracial lens may improve understanding of the inequities resulting from the various intersecting factors that may compound delays in treatment initiation.

Predictors of persistent alcohol use disorder and co-occurring depressive symptoms: Insights from the longitudinal college experiences study.

Problematic alcohol use and depression are prevalent in the college student population. The purpose of this study was to identify how personality and social-contextual factors in the first year of college work together to predict stable and potentially co-occurring alcohol use disorder (AUD) and depressive symptoms over a period of approximately 4 years. Participants were first-year college students from the Southeastern United States (N = 209, 90% white, 62% female). Baseline data were collected in the first year of college and follow-up assessments were completed ~1 and ~4 years later (retention rates: 80%+, average ages ~19, 20, and 23 years, respectively). At each assessment, participants completed a comprehensive online survey assessing mental health and substance use, as well as personality, social support, stress, sleep, and other features of peer and romantic partner affiliations. Results from our random-intercept cross-lagged panel model indicated AUD and depressive symptoms were more likely to co-occur in the transition out of rather than into college. Significant predictors of stable AUD symptoms across the ~4-year period included greater alcohol quantity, marijuana frequency, affiliation with antisocial/substance-using peers, and frequency of drinking with romantic partner in the first year of college. Significant predictors of stable depressive symptoms included greater constraint, greater negative emotionality, lower positive emotionality, greater stress, and less weekday sleep. Findings suggest that personality factors, stress, and sleep in the first year of college may be useful targets to screen for in efforts to reduce long-term depressive symptoms in the college context. Disrupting affiliation with antisocial/substance-using peers and romantic partners and reducing the high quantity of alcohol and frequency of marijuana may be more relevant to reducing long-term problematic alcohol use. Implications for incorporating individually-tailored approaches to prevention/intervention are addressed.

Dreams versus reality: wishes, expectations and perceived reality for the use of extra non-work time in a 30-hour work week experiment

ABSTRACT In 2019, a Belgian women’s organisation experimented with a 30-hour work week for all of their full-time employees. This work time reduction was an excellent opportunity to study these female employees’ wishes, expectations and experienced reality concerning their extra non-work time. Their wishes and expectations – as well as how these relate to their perceived reality – was studied through longitudinal questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus groups. The women wished for more time for themselves and their intimate relationships. However, their wishes reflected an ideal situation. Their expectations reflected their wishes but were slightly more realistic. The perceived reality did not fulfil all of their wishes. The ‘me-time’ that they wished for prior to the experiment did not always emerge to be the ‘me-time’ that they had. Some women appropriated a less conventional form of ‘me-time’, such as housework, which helped them to ease their mind and relax. Others felt unable to fulfil their wishes through (social) context factors such as the embeddedness of time structures, time schedules and the rhythms of family and friends. This paper reflects on the gendered norms and values and inequalities in time use that can help to explain the discrepancies between preferences and experienced reality.

Parent–child conflict during homeschooling in times of the COVID-19 pandemic: A key role for mothers’ self-efficacy in teaching

To contain the COVID-19 pandemic schools have been closed in many countries. Children stayed at home and were assisted by their parents with their schoolwork. Evidently, homeschooling puts extra demands on parents. We presumed that parents’ sense of efficacy in teaching would play a key role in how they cope with this extra task of homeschooling. In particular, we hypothesized that parental characteristics (level of parental education and stress) and social contextual factors (household chaos and school support) would contribute to parents’ teaching self-efficacy and that, in turn, a lower efficacy would result in more parent–child conflict during home schooling. Participants were 173 mothers of children in kindergarten or early elementary schools, who provided information for one of their children about interpersonal conflicts around schoolwork before and during school closure. Additionally, they reported on their self-efficacy in teaching, perceived stress during lockdown, home chaos, and school support. Path analyses indicated that mothers’ perceived stress and household chaos were associated with a lower sense of efficacy in teaching, whereas school support, but not level of parental education, was related to a higher level of teaching self-efficacy. Higher levels of self-efficacy beliefs, in turn, were associated with a lower degree of mother–child conflict during schoolwork, even after controlling for prior levels of conflict. We discuss how the results of this study might be used to foster parents’ self-efficacy in teaching and thereby decrease the amount of parent–child conflict during parents’ support with schoolwork.

Language Functions Used by The Main Characters of The Marriage Story Movie

People use different utterances by considering the social context in which communication takes place. An utterance may have more than one meaning and function depending on social context and other factors. This study aims to describe the spoken language functions of the main characters, Charlie and Nicole, in the Marriage Story movie. This descriptive qualitative research used Roman Jacobson’s language function classification to categorize the selected utterances found in Marriage Story movie into one of the six functions (emotive, conative, referential, metalingual, phatic, and poetic). To interpret the classified data and the contexts or situations, I relate the language functions to social factors and social dimensions based on Holmes’ categorization. The results show that all six language functions appeared in Nicole and Charlie’s utterances. The data analysis depicts that emotive function is predominantly used by the main characters throughout the whole movie. Moreover, those language functions are influenced by social factors and social dimensions.Keywords: language function; social factor; social dimension; Marriage Story.

Social Context of Performance Appraisals in Public Parks and Recreation: A Statewide Study

Well-designed performance appraisals provide a formal evaluation system to measure employees’ contributions to the agency while motivating staff and enhancing productivity levels. Despite their prominence and popularity, performance appraisal systems are often a contentious activity within public park and recreation agencies. Appraisal literature has indicated that many of these frustrations stem from issues such as (1) criteria that is not job related, (2) unclear or confusing rating levels, and/or (3) poorly designed processes and inconsistent implementation techniques. Recent research has also suggested many of these issues might be linked to the social dimensions surrounding the appraisal system. The purpose of this study was to build upon the previous appraisal research in public parks and recreation by exploring the role of two process proximal social context factors (employee participation and supervisor trust) on the utility of the appraisal system. More specifically, the cumulative effects of employee participation at various stages (job analysis, instrument development, appraisal interview, and training related to the appraisal system) and employees’ perceptions of their supervisor on employees’ reactions to their agency’s appraisal system were examined. Analyses indicated supervisor trust and employee participation significantly contributed to public park and recreation professionals’ satisfaction with their appraisal system, satisfaction with their appraisal interview, and their procedural and distributive justice perceptions with their appraisal system. Study findings and implications for management are discussed.

ПОСЛЕДИПЛОМСКЕ (МАГИСТАРСКЕ) СТУДИЈЕ НА ГРУПИ ЗА СОЦИОЛОГИЈУ ФИЛОЗОФСКОГ ФАКУЛТЕТА У НИШУ

The paper discusses the development and achieved results of the postgraduate (master of science) studies organized at the Group for Sociology of the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš. The curricula, number and structure of students, number and thematic orientation of master’s theses are analyzed. The paper points out the influence of various factors on the development of the postgraduate studies (social context, institutional, organizational and internal scientific factors).

Multilevel determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity and mortality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA: protocol for a concurrent triangulation, mixed-methods study

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected communities of colour the hardest. Non-Hispanic black and Hispanic pregnant women appear to have disproportionate SARS-CoV-2 infection and death rates.Methods and analysisWe will use the...

Impact of social environment on alcohol‐induced behavior

Alcohol consumption occurring in social or solitary settings often yield different behavioral responses. For example, drinking of alcoholic beverages in a social setting is associated with enhanced positive effects including euphoria and increased sociality while drinking in a solitary setting is linked to augmented negative effects such as depressive symptoms and anxiety. The neurobiological mechanism by which the social environment impacts on behavioral responses to alcohol, however, remains understudied. Using the Drosophilamodel, we investigated whether distinct social environments affect behavioral responses to ethanol. In this study, we focused on the hyper‐locomotor activity that is typically used as a proxy for euphoria induced by ethanol. Wild‐type Canton‐S (CS) flies were exposed to ethanol in either socially‐isolated (1 fly per chamber) or socially‐enriched (13 flies per chamber) settings and their locomotor activities were analyzed. We found that the socially‐enriched flies showed significantly more hyperactivity under the influence of ethanol compared to the singly exposed flies. This suggests that the presence of other flies amplifies ethanol‐induced euphoria. Dopamine is known to be important for social interactions thus we explored the role of dopamine in the social effect on the ethanol response by examining the dopamine transporter mutant fumin with hyperdopaminergic tone. When exposed to ethanol in a social setting, fuminmutants showed the augmented hyperactivity compared to the singly exposed fumin as well as single‐ and group‐ exposed CSflies. Together, these findings suggest that hyperdopaminergic signaling augments the effect of social enrichment on the ethanol response. The findings of this study provide important information regarding the mechanism by which genetic (dopamine transporter) and non‐genetic (social context) factors interact for the locomotor response to ethanol.

Risk and resilience in couple's adjustment to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s global scope and resulting social distancing measures have caused unprecedented economic, lifestyle, and social impacts to personal and relationship well-being. While lockdowns have prompted individuals to increase reliance on intimate partners for support, stressful external contexts can also interfere with partners’ capacity to request and provide support, resulting in relationship dissatisfaction and even dissolution. Guided by a risk and resilience framework, this study examined the impact of perceived stress, social contextual factors, and dyadic coping on self-reported relationship satisfaction changes during the initial United States COVID-19 lockdown period. Participants were adults in romantic relationships who completed an online survey between April 13 and June 8, 2020. Overall, survey respondents (N = 1106) reported higher perceived stress levels than established population norms, and small but significant decrements in relationship satisfaction. Multivariable models revealed that higher perceived stress levels were associated with lower relationship satisfaction levels. Additionally, dyadic coping was found to moderate the impact of perceived stress on relationship satisfaction (B = .05, 95% CI = .02– .07), suggesting that engaging in dyadic coping buffered individuals from adverse effects of perceived stress on their relationships. Findings emphasize heightened stress experienced by individuals during the pandemic, potential detrimental effects of stress on couple relationships, and suggest dyadic coping may help buffer couples from adverse effects of the pandemic on their relationships. As such, dyadic coping may be an important target for future interventions designed to assist couples during the ongoing pandemic and future pandemics/natural disasters.

Global profile of individuals undergoing total knee replacement through the PROGRESS-PLUS equity lens: Protocol for a systematic review.

BackgroundOsteoarthritis (OA) is a heterogenous degenerative disorder often causing destructive joint changes with severe pain and functional disability. Modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors, social context and psychological factors influence the development and progression of the disease. Total knee replacement (TKR) aims at reducing pain and improving function and is more successful with pre-operative and post-operative rehabilitation. However, most international research on rehabilitation interventions is conducted in high income contexts.ObjectiveThe aim of our systematic review is to gain an overview of the demographic and social profiles of adults undergoing TKR for primary knee OA in lower, middle- and high-income countries through a health equity lens to inform the translation of intervention research in local contexts.MethodsA systematic review will be conducted and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. Eligibility criteria include observational studies and grey literature (theses) since the beginning of the databases reporting on demographic data of adults awaiting or undergoing TKR surgery. The PROGRESS-Plus framework will be used to describe equity elements.ResultsA narrative summary and description of the global profile of individuals undergoing total knee replacement for osteoarthritis.ConclusionA snapshot of the global demographic and social profile of individuals receiving TKR for primary knee OA through an equity lens will shed light on the similarities and differences between individuals from different contexts. Global demographic profile information may inform or assist in the development of translational strategies for evidence-based rehabilitation.Clinical implicationsTranslation of existing rehabilitation interventions to local contexts could improve pre-operative and post-operative outcomes for individuals on our surgical waiting lists.

BASE: Pragmatic Injury Prevention for Practitioners.

Unintentional injury remains a leading health problem in developed nations, making injury prevention imperative. Practitioners are primary stakeholders in the injury prevention process but rarely can devote significant time to complicated prevention efforts. Furthermore, theory-based approaches to support injury prevention are less common than atheoretical approaches. We propose a simple method for injury prevention grounded in concepts found in antecedent models. Barriers, attitudes, social context, and environmental factors (or BASE) are suggested as a simple injury prevention model practitioners can follow when working with patients. We present each component of BASE and offer examples of how the approach can be applied to risk factors associated with several types of injury risk behavior.

General trust in the health care system and general trust in physicians: A multilevel analysis of 30 countries

This article builds upon a multilevel theory of trust to explore the relationship between general trust in health care systems and general trust in physicians and the social-contextual factors that shape this relationship. We develop a model of trust in physicians emphasizing the embeddedness of individuals in broader social-institutional contexts. We analyze data from 30 countries in the 2011 International Social Survey Program ( N = 38,068) and specify hierarchical linear models with macro-micro level interactions. At the individual level, we find that individuals who trust the health care system are more likely to trust physicians in general. At the country level, we find that respondents from countries with predominately publicly financed health care systems are more likely to trust physicians than their counterparts in countries with less public funding of the health care system. Finally, we find that the greatest predicted probability of trust in physicians is found among individuals who trust their publicly funded health care system and the lowest probability is among individuals who have no confidence in their privately funded health care system. Based on these findings, we call for greater attention to the interaction of micro- and macro-level factors in models of trust in physicians cross-nationally.

The Emerging Threat of Plasmodium knowlesi Malaria Infection: A Concept Paper on the Vulnerable Factors in Human.

In South-East Asia (SEA), there has been an increase in the trend of detected and reported cases of Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in the last few decades. This higher transmission rate within SEA countries is attributed to the distribution of the Macaque, banded leaf monkeys, and Anopheles mosquito in this region. This study aims to propose a concept that highlights the integration of vulnerability factors to P. knowlesi malaria infection. The relevant literature on the vulnerability factors of P. knowlesi was reviewed. Any theories and models that could be integrated to support the factors were also explored throughout this study. Exposure to P. knowlesi malaria was found to be influenced by sociodemographic, socioeconomic, environmental, social context, belief, and human behaviour factors. However, these factors were commonly discussed separately in existing studies. For better disease prevention and control, all these factors should be explored collectively, to facilitate research aimed at generating a deeper understanding of the vulnerability factors to P. knowlesi malaria from various perspectives, including the genetic, sociodemographic, socioeconomic, environmental, sociocultural beliefs, and human behaviour of the population.

Integrating Social Learning, Adaptive Capacity and Climate Adaptation for Regional Scale Analysis: A Conceptual Framework.

The impact of climate-related changes on northern Canada's renewable resource sectors makes bolstering adaptive capacity an urgent imperative throughout the region. Although social learning is a key ingredient of adaptive capacity, our understanding of the relationships among social learning, adaptive capacity, and climate change adaptation is limited. Building on previous conceptual and empirical studies, this paper develops a framework that clarifies the interactions among social learning, adaptive capacity and climate change adaptation pertinent to a regional scale of analysis. The framework is multi-layered and consists of different levels of governing variables, units of analysis, learning outcomes and climate change adaptations. It is also integrative in that it encompasses social learning motivations, context and process factors, and outcomes, along with key determinants of adaptive capacity. A post hoc assessment of two climate change disturbances in northern boreal resource systems reveals the applicability of the framework to a regional scale analysis.