Emotional Social Support Research Articles

Abstract B016: Associations between geographic residence, social support and resilience among Kentucky cancer survivors

Abstract Background: Rural and Appalachian cancer survivors have higher rates of invasive stage of disease, increased challenges in accessing health care services, and report poorer health outcomes and greater psychological distress compared to urban cancer survivors. Factors such as resilience-the ability of patients to bounce back after the trauma of a diagnosis- may be an important predictor of well-being, overall cancer experience, and treatment outcomes. In this exploratory study we assess whether residing in urban or rural geographic areas at diagnosis predicts level of self-perceived resilience and correlate relationships with mental and emotional health and social support. Methods: LADDER ‘Life After Diagnosis and Descriptors of Experience and Responses’ (LADDER) Study is an online pilot survey to evaluate experiences of Kentucky adult cancer survivors within the first year of diagnosis. Self-perceived resilience was measured by the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale; higher scores indicate better resilience (range 0-40). Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate Odds Ratios (OR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) for likelihood of low resilience, dichotomized at median score. Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficients (ρ) measured the strength and direction of associations between continuous measures of anxiety, depression, social support, and resilience. Results: Among 46 participants, most were female aged 65 and older, living in non-Appalachian KY with 33% reporting a history of breast cancer. Rural cancer survivors scored 4 points lower in resilience on average than urban cancer survivors. In multivariable models, compared to urban KY survivors, rural KY survivors had a 2-fold higher likelihood of self-perceived low resilience (OR=2.70:95% 0.58-12.5)). Adjusting for age, sex, Appalachian region, and employment partially attenuated the difference in resilience scores; however, estimates were not significant (OR=2.20: 95% 0.24-20.7). Social support, anxiety, and depression were moderately correlated with resilience among both urban (ρ= 0.36 to 0.64) and rural cancer survivors (ρ range: 0.21 to 0.54) Conclusion: The first year after a cancer diagnosis marks the transition into survivorship with major emotional adjustments. Additional recruitment of survivors will allow examination of diverse experiences post-diagnosis which may lead to interventions to improve quality of life in cancer survivors. Citation Format: Hoa Nguyen, Stephie Abraham, Kathy Baumgartner, Richard Baumgartner, Stephanie Boone. Associations between geographic residence, social support and resilience among Kentucky cancer survivors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr B016.

Perspectives and experiences of mothers of school-age children with asthma: a qualitative study

Introduction and Aims This study aimed to explore the perspectives and experiences of mothers of school-age children with asthma in care. Methods A phenomenological study was conducted using qualitative research methods from August 2021 to November 2021. Mothers (from Sichuan, China) of school-aged children with asthma who sought outpatient care at the pediatric asthma clinic were purposively sampled based on their occupation, education level, and duration of their child’s illness. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted in consultation room A07 of the pediatric asthma clinic. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. Results 23 mothers expressed interest, but data saturation was reached after recruiting 15 mothers.Four main themes encompassing ten sub-themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Negative psychological burden, with sub-themes including anxiety shock, fear of death, guilt, and stigma. (2) Family dysfunction, with sub-themes including impaired quality of life, family emotional crisis, and heavy economic burden. (3) Difficulty in seeking medical treatment. (4) Active response, with sub-themes including emotional adjustment, family empowerment, and social support. Conclusions In this sample, the caregiving experience of mothers of school-age children with asthma is diverse and complex, reflected not only in personal psychological aspects but also in family functioning and social support. Taking into account various factors, such as addressing psychological well-being, emphasizing family and social support, and promoting the sharing of positive experiences, may result in more effective alleviation of caregiving stress for mothers of school-age children with asthma.

A taxonomy of threat and soothing influences in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases and central sensitivity syndromes

BackgroundAn imbalance in affect regulation, reflected by a hyperactive threat system and hypoactive soothing system, may impact physical symptoms in people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMD) and central sensitivity syndromes (CSS), including chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome. This study aimed to identify and structure comprehensive overviews of threat and soothing influences that may worsen or alleviate physical symptoms in people with RMD or CSS. MethodA concept mapping procedure was used. An online open-question survey (N = 686, 641 [93.4%] women) yielded comprehensive sets of 40 threats and 40 soothers that were individually sorted by people with RMD or CSS (N = 115, 112 [97.4%] women). ResultsHierarchical cluster analyses generated eight threat clusters: environmental stimuli, physical symptoms, food and drugs, inactivity, demands, effort, invalidation, and emotional stress. Ten soother clusters were identified: social emotional support, rest and balance, pleasant surroundings, illness understanding, positive mindset and autonomy, spirituality, leisure activity, wellness, treatment and care, and nutrition and treats. ConclusionsOur study provided a comprehensive taxonomy of threats and soothers in people with RMD or CSS. The results can be used in experimental research to label threat and soothing stimuli and in clinical practice to screen and monitor relevant treatment targets.

Depressive symptom trajectories in older breast cancer survivors: the Thinking and Living with Cancer Study.

To identify trajectories of depressive symptoms in older breast cancer survivors and demographic, psychosocial, physical health, and cancer-related predictors of these trajectories. Recently diagnosed nonmetastatic breast cancer survivors (n= 272), ages 60-98 years, were evaluated for depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, CES-D; scores ≥16 suggestive of clinically significant depressive symptoms). CES-D scores were analyzed in growth-mixture models to determine depression trajectories from baseline (post-surgery, pre-systemic therapy) through 3-year annual follow-up. Multivariable, multinomial logistic regression was used to identify baseline predictors of depression trajectories. Survivors had three distinct trajectories: stable (84.6%), emerging depressive symptoms (10.3%), and recovery from high depressive symptoms at baseline that improved slowly over time (5.1%). Compared to stable survivors, those in the emerging (OR = 1.16; 95% CI = 1.08-1.23) or recovery (OR = 1.26; 95% CI = 1.15-1.38) groups reported greater baseline anxiety. Greater baseline deficit accumulation (frailty composite measure) was associated with emerging depressive symptoms (OR = 3.71; 95% CI = 1.90-7.26). Less social support at baseline (OR = 0.38; 95% CI = 0.15-0.99), but greater improvement in emotional (F= 4.13; p= 0.0006) and tangible (F= 2.86; p= 0.01) social support over time, was associated with recovery from depressive symptoms. Fifteen percent of older breast cancer survivors experienced emerging or recovery depressive symptom trajectories. Baseline anxiety, deficit accumulation, and lower social support were associated with worse outcomes. Our results emphasize the importance of depression screening throughout the course of cancer care to facilitate early intervention. Factors associated with depressive symptoms, including lower levels of social support proximal to diagnosis, could serve as intervention levers.

Overcoming Social Interactions Stress During COVID-19 Lockdown: The Role of Individuals’ Mobility and Online Emotional Support

The effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on the shift from in-person (offline) social interactions to online interactions and its consequences on social support and stress attracted scholarly attention. However, much less is known about how individuals’ prior mobility experiences have influenced coping with this shift. In the present research, we hypothesized that people with mobility experiences should already be more familiar with, and could profit more from, online social interactions before the pandemic, which might buffer against the negative impact of the pandemic on the emotional social support they obtained and the stress they felt during these interactions. In order to investigate this issue, we collected data ( N = 875) in Germany during the lockdown between April and May 2021. We measured mobility by introducing a novel approach that encompasses the act of moving houses (both within a country and internationally), commuting patterns, and nationality (migration background). Participants also reported the frequency of their online and offline interactions (before and during the lockdown), as well as the emotional support they obtained from online and offline interactions and the stress felt during lockdown interactions (as compared to before the lockdown). Results provide quantitative evidence in support of the main hypothesis especially regarding migration background. We discuss the relevance of these findings for research on migration and mobility.

Suicidal ideation among individuals aging with spinal cord injury.

To identify the prevalence of suicidal ideation (SI) and its correlates among an aging cohort of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) with an average of more than three decades of having lived with SCI. The study was a cross-sectional analysis of self-report assessment data. These data were collected from 2018 to 2019 during the most recent data collection period of the 45-year SCI Longitudinal Aging Study. Participants (n = 553) were identified from specialty and university hospitals in the southeastern and midwestern United States. The participants averaged 31 years since SCI onset, with an average age of 58 years. Participants were predominantly non-Hispanic, White (79%), male (70.1%), and had a cervical level SCI (51%). Approximately 23% of participants were ambulatory. SI was assessed using a nonzero response to the ninth item on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Over 14% of the sample endorsed experiencing recent SI. Bivariate analyses indicated that those with SI had greater pain severity, pain interference, depressive symptom severity, and frequency of anxiety. Having a cervical injury level, lower self-reported general health, instrumental social support, emotional social support, and fewer days spent outside the home were also associated with SI. Logistic regression analysis indicated that when all biopsychosocial variables were considered simultaneously, having a cervical-level injury and greater depressive symptom severity remained significantly associated with SI. The results of this study highlight the importance of continued assessment of depressive symptoms and SI as individuals age with SCI. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Risk for anxiety and depression among men with prostate cancer.

280 Background: Men with prostate cancer (PC) commonly experience symptoms of anxiety, depression, and suicidality; yet, identifying men in need of mental health support can be difficult, particularly as gender role socialization may deter men from seeking care. We aimed to identify sociodemographic, clinical, and social factors associated with risk for clinically significant anxiety and depression among men with PC. Methods: 118 men with PC completed the Cancer Experience Registry, provided sociodemographic and clinical information, degree of symptom and side effect (SSE) burden in the prior month (16 items), completed the CancerSupportSource Risk for Anxiety and Risk for Depression 2-item subscales , and PROMIS Emotional Support and Instrumental Support 4-item subscales. Bivariate analysis was used to identify significant variables associated with risk for anxiety or depression to be included in subsequent models. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine which factors significantly predicted risk (1=At risk; 0=Not) for 1) anxiety and 2) depression Independent variables included sociodemographic (age, race/ethnicity, employment, income, marital status), and clinical factors (time since diagnosis, staging, treatment status, history of recurrence, radical prostatectomy, chemotherapy, hormone or radiation therapy, total SSE burden), and social support (caregiver (Y/N), emotional and instrumental support). Results: The sample was 84% Non-Hispanic (NH) White, 9% NH Black. Mean age was 66 years ( SD=9.8). 42% NED, 23% localized, 26% metastatic disease. 53% were retired, 35% employed, and 10% unemployed due to disability (UDTD). 31% were at risk for clinical levels of anxiety; 25% were at risk for clinical levels of depression. In multivariable logistic regression analysis: significant predictors of risk for anxiety ( p<.001) included age (OR =0.88, p<.01), not having a caregiver (OR =5.02, p=.02), and emotional support (OR =0.81, p=.04). Risk for depression ( p<.001) was significantly predicted by instrumental support (OR=0.67, p=.01) and higher among those with active, localized disease compared to NED (OR =10.84, p=.02), and among those UDTD compared to employed (OR =11.09, p=.03). Significant correlates of risk for anxiety and depression in bivariate but not multivariate analysis: marital status, time since diagnosis, and total SSE burden. Conclusions: Younger age, UDTD, localized cancer status, social support, and not having a caregiver were significant predictors of risk for clinical levels of anxiety or depression. Routine risk assessment for anxiety and depression, coupled with multidimensional distress screening can help triage patients to tailored care. Further, those with greater social support and those with a caregiver had lower odds of being at risk for anxiety or depression, emphasizing the need for connecting men with cancer to emotional and instrumental supportive services in their community.

Interrelations of resilience factors and their incremental impact for mental health: insights from network modeling using a prospective study across seven timepoints

Resilience can be viewed as trajectory of stable good mental health or the quick recovery of mental health during or after stressor exposure. Resilience factors (RFs) are psychological resources that buffer the potentially negative effects of stress on mental health. A problem of resilience research is the large number of conceptually overlapping RFs complicating their understanding. The current study sheds light on the interrelations of RFs in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic as a use case for major disruptions. The non-preregistered prospective study assessed a sample of 1275 German-speaking people from February 2020 to March 2021 at seven timepoints. We measured coping, hardiness, control beliefs, optimism, self-efficacy, sense of coherence (SOC), sense of mastery, social support and dispositional resilience as RFs in February 2020, and mental health (i.e., psychopathological symptoms, COVID-19-related rumination, stress-related growth) at all timepoints. Analyses used partial correlation network models and latent growth mixture modeling (LGMM). Pre-pandemic RFs were strongly interrelated, with SOC being the most central node. The strongest associations emerged between coping using emotional support and social support, SOC and sense of mastery, and dispositional resilience and self-efficacy. SOC and active coping were negatively linked. When we examined RFs as predictors of mental health trajectories, SOC was the strongest predictor of psychopathological symptoms and rumination, while trajectories of stress-related growth were predicted by optimism. Subsequent network analyses, including individual intercepts and slopes from LGMM, showed that RFs had small to moderate associations with intercepts but were unrelated to slopes. Our findings provide evidence for SOC playing an important role in mental distress and suggest further examining SOC’s incremental validity. However, our results also propose that RFs might be more important for stable levels of mental health than for adaptation processes over time. The differential associations for negative and positive outcomes support the use of multidimensional outcomes in resilience research.

Development and Validation of the Social Ecological Resilience Scale (SERS) from a Systems Perspective for Hong Kong Families

This study examined the construct of resilience from a systems perspective and developed a new Social Ecological Resilience Scale measuring resilience in Hong Kong families. A total of 506 service users were recruited using convenience sampling. Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to uncover the factor structures, while Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted to test the scale’s internal reliability and validity. A 44-item scale with a six-factor structure comprising emotional flexibility, coping, self-kindness, common humanity, family support and social support was revealed. The implications for conceptualizing resilience from a broader socio-cultural perspective and developing interventions are discussed.

Social support needs to encourage health-related technology use among elderly persons who age in place: a scoping review

This scoping review focused on mapping out the relevant literature on the subject of the social support needs of the elderly who age in place and their use of technology for health-related purposes, identify research gaps and propose directions for future research. The PRISMA-ScR checklist was used to guide this scoping review. A total of 11, 991 potential articles were identified from four international academic databases. Five rounds of exclusion reduced these potential articles to five finalized articles. Gaps identified included the role of the wider community in providing social support for the adoption and engagement with health-related technology, the role of technology education in adoption and use of health-related technology, and the disparity of studies on emotional social support needs of the elderly who age in place. Suggested directions of future research included more diverse uses of research methodologies, inclusion of the elderly who age in place in the development of future research, education-focused research, policy level studies, studies based on particular genders or disabilities, comparative studies in the post COVID-19 era and the emotional aspects of social support needs.

Emotional Contagion and Social Support in Pigs with the Negative Stimulus.

This study expects to confirm the existence of emotional transmission in pigs from multiple perspectives and to provide theoretical references for improving animal welfare in livestock farming. A group that could directly observe (DO) and a group that could not directly observe (NO) were created based on whether or not their peers observed the treatment process, as the treated pig (TP) was treated with electrical shock and the companion pig (CP) either witnessed the treatment inflicted upon TP or not, and a third group was a control group, in which neither pig was stimulated. The behavioral responses of both the TPs and CPs were recorded to evaluate the emotional reaction. The results found that in both the DO and NO groups, the frequency of TP freezing was significantly higher than that of CP, and CP was significantly higher than that of the control group. Interestingly, although the social interaction responses of the CPs were not similar in the DO and NO groups, there were no significant differences between the behaviors of TPs in the DO and NO groups, except for nose-nose contact and a single approach to the partition, which allowed us to conclude that, whether or not the pigs directly observed the negative treatment, they were able to respond accordingly to fear and provide similar social support to their companions who were treated negatively.

Educator Secondary Traumatic Stress in the Pandemic’s Wake: Buoying Teacher Holistic Health

The COVID-19 crises wreaked havoc on students and teachers alike. Not only were educators thrust into distance learning overnight, but they had to provide social-emotional support for students with little preparation. Conducted at a school serving economically-challenged, trauma-impacted students, this qualitative study identified manifestations of secondary traumatic stress (STS) experienced by educators during the pandemic, self-care strategies they employed, and mental health resources the school provided. Questionnaire and interview data collected over a three-year period from six female elementary teachers were initially sorted into a priori code categories of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social domains through deductive content analysis; and then further analyzed within those four categories to identify codes that emerged from the data through inductive analysis. This two-pronged data analysis process revealed numerous manifestations of educator STS including sleepless, physical ailments, depletion, emotional escalation, worry over student welfare, feelings of powerlessness, professional uncertainty, and pressure to balance “catching students up” academically with bolstering social competency. School-wide professional development on trauma-informed practices, social-emotional learning, and growth mindset equipped teachers with tangible skills and strategies to address student personal and collective trauma; while initiatives such as the Health Challenge, Wellness Wednesdays, counselor check-ins, and staff appreciation days provided educators with collegial community-building, health and fitness incentives, problem-solving approaches, and mental health strategies. Educators themselves addressed their STS through self-care practices such as mindfulness, cognitive restructuring, boundary setting, and social support in an effort to buoy their holistic health and persist in supporting students.

Understanding the Connection Among Ikigai, Well-Being, and Home Robot Acceptance in Japanese Older Adults: Mixed Methods Study.

Ikigai (meaning or purpose in life) is a concept understood by most older adults in Japan. The term has also garnered international attention, with recent academic attempts to map it to concepts in the Western well-being literature. In addition, efforts to use social and home robots to increase well-being have grown; however, they have mostly focused on hedonic well-being (eg, increasing happiness and decreasing loneliness) rather than eudaimonic well-being (eg, fostering meaning or purpose in life). First, we explored how Japanese older adults experience ikigai and relate these to concepts in the Western well-being literature. Second, we investigated how a home robot meant to promote ikigai is perceived by older adults. We used a mixed methods research design-including 20 interviews with older adults, a survey of 50 older adults, and 10 interviews with family caregivers. For interviews, we asked questions about older adults' sources of ikigai, happiness, and social support, along with their perception of the robot (QT). For surveys, a number of well-being scales were used, including 2 ikigai scales-ikigai-9 and K-1-and 6 Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System scales, measuring meaning and purpose, positive affect, satisfaction with participation in social roles, satisfaction with participation in discretionary social activities, companionship, and emotional support. Questions related to the perception and desired adoption of the robot and older adults' health status were also included. Our results suggest that health is older adults' most common source of ikigai. Additionally, although self-rated health correlated moderately with ikigai and other well-being measures, reported physical limitation did not. As opposed to social roles (work and family), we found that ikigai is more strongly related to satisfaction with discretionary social activities (leisure, hobbies, and friends) for older adults. Moreover, we found that older adults' sources of ikigai included the eudaimonic aspects of vitality, positive relations with others, contribution, accomplishment, purpose, and personal growth, with the first 3 being most common, and the hedonic aspects of positive affect, life satisfaction, and lack of negative affect, with the first 2 being most common. However, the concept of ikigai was most related to eudaimonic well-being, specifically meaning in life, along the dimension of significance. Finally, we found that Japanese older adults have high expectations of a home robot for well-being, mentioning that it should support them in a multitude of ways before they would likely adopt it. However, we report that those with the highest levels of meaning, and satisfaction with their leisure life and friendships, may be most likely to adopt it. We outline several ways to improve the robot to increase its acceptance, such as improving its voice, adding functional features, and designing it to support multiple aspects of well-being.

Positive Childhood Experiences and Depression Among College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Moderated Mediation Model.

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, mental health concerns have become more prevalent worldwide. However, there is a lack of research specifically addressing the mental well-being of college art students. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms among college music students and explore the factors that predict and alleviate these symptoms amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted among college music students (n = 407) from two universities at May 2022 in China. Self-report scales were used to measure levels of depression (Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale), positive childhood experiences (Benevolent Childhood Experiences Scale), social support (Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support), and regulatory emotional self-efficacy (Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale). Hayes PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to test the hypothesized effects of regulatory emotional self-efficacy and social support in the relationship between positive childhood experiences and depression. Results showed that, the prevalence of depression symptoms of the current study sample was 64.13%, positive childhood experiences had a significant and negative predictive effect on the depression of college music students, and the relation was partially mediated by regulatory emotional self-efficacy. Furthermore, social support moderated the relationship between positive childhood experiences and regulatory emotional self-efficacy, the relation was significant only for students with higher levels of social support, social support may enhance and amplify the positive impacts of positive childhood experiences on regulatory emotional self-efficacy. The findings reveal a significant prevalence of depression among college music students during the COVID-19 epidemic, underscoring the seriousness of the issue. Moreover, this study contributes to a deeper comprehension of how positive childhood experiences alleviate depression among college music students. These insights hold potential for informing mental health education initiatives tailored to college art students in the post-pandemic era, offering valuable guidance for promoting their well-being and resilience.

Effect of Childhood Trauma on Substance Users’ Attitudes of Coping with Stress

Objective: This study seeks to examine the effects of childhood traumas on substance users’ attitudes of coping with stress.
 Method: This descriptive study seeking relationship was conducted with 133 individuals diagnosed with substance use and receiving treatment in the alcohol and substance treatment centre and closed psychiatry clinics of a mental health hospital located in Turkey.
 Results: The mean age of first substance use of the participants included in the study was 17.8 ± 4.7. The participants got the highest score from the emotional neglect subscale of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (12.83 ± 3.46). Individuals in the study got the highest score from the religious coping subscale of the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (13.39 ± 2.71). Childhood traumatic experiences were found to be effective in the development of coping attitudes including denial, behavioural disengagement, use of emotional social support, substance use, and acceptance. 
 Conclusion: Childhood traumatic experiences of substance users have an effect on their dysfunctional coping attitudes. It is recommended that psychiatric nurses include primary, secondary, and tertiary protective approaches towards childhood traumas in their work on combating addiction.

Impact of social support on life satisfaction in older adults: Considering socioeconomic status as moderator

AbstractThis study examined the associations between changes in different types of social support and change in life satisfaction in retired older adults, and the moderating role of socioeconomic status (education and income). Data were extracted from a nationally representative sample of 2837 older adults taken from the survey of the 7th (2018) and 8th (2020) waves of the Korean Retirement and Income Study. The study employed regression analysis to explore the relationships between changes in three types of social support (emotional, informational, instrumental) and changes in life satisfaction. The results of the study indicate that the associations between changes in social support and life satisfaction differed by type of social support and participants' changes in income. Specifically, an increase in emotional social support positively related to an increase in life satisfaction, with a stronger association observed among older adults with decreased income compared to those with increased income. Meanwhile, changes in informational social support were positively related to changes in life satisfaction regardless of education or income level. Finally, changes in instrumental social support were not found to be significantly associated with changes in life satisfaction. This study highlights the importance of considering the types of social support that older adults have and need, as well as changes in their economic status, when seeking to understand their life satisfaction.

Age Differences in Perceived Preparedness for the Continuation of COVID-19 Pandemic: Important Role of Social Support

Abstract This study examined the age differences in perceived preparedness for the continuation of COVID-19 pandemic; and tested the moderating effects of three types of social support, i.e., emotional, financial and instrumental support. Using a sample of 450 adults in Texas, USA from the research project ‘Vulnerability and Resilience to Disasters’ (October 2020 to January 2021), results of multiple linear regressions showed that compared with people aged over sixty-five, those aged eighteen–forty-four perceived a lower level of preparedness for the ongoing COVID-19 and there was no significant difference in perceived preparedness between individuals aged sixty-five+ and those aged forty-five–sixty-four. Receiving emotional and instrumental support was, respectively, more important for people aged sixty-five+ to perceive a better level of preparedness than for those aged eighteen–forty-four and forty-five–sixty-four. The findings highlighted the unique strengths of older adults in COVID-19 preparedness from the life course perspective and the importance of social support in their disaster preparedness. Based on these findings, social workers could incorporate the wisdom and experience of older adults into disaster management and develop age-specific interventions to promote preventive behaviours during future public health disasters.

Latent class symptom profiles of colorectal cancer survivors with cancer-related cognitive impairment.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors experience cancer-related cognitive impairment and co-occurring symptoms after cancer treatments. There has been little data to inform the risk factors of complex symptom phenotypes in CRC survivors. To determine if subgroups of CRC survivors after cancer treatments could be identified based on the cognitive impairment and common co-occurring symptoms (depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, fatigue, and pain); and to explore risk factors (sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, perceived stress, and social support) of these subgroups. Latent class profile analysis (LCPA) was used to identify subgroups based on self-reported symptoms in 64 CRC survivors. Cognitive impairment was measured by assessing subjective cognitive function using the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measure. The Kruskal-Wallis test and regression analyses were performed. Three distinct latent classes were identified (Class 1: All Low '28.1%'; Class 2: High Psychological Symptoms (depression/anxiety) '25%'; Class 3: High Somatic Symptoms (fatigue, sleep disturbance, and pain) with High Cognitive Impairment'46.9%'). The pain was the most distinguishable symptom across the latent classes. The high symptom burden group was associated with less time since cancer diagnosis, higher perceived stress levels, and poor emotional social support. Our study adds to the information on interindividual variability in symptom experience of CRC survivors with cognitive impairment. Findings suggest a need for increased attention to screening for co-occurring symptoms (e.g., high pain) and future interventions focused on stress management and social support.

Social relations and leisure activities as predictors of wellbeing among older adults with multiple sclerosis: A cross-sectional survey study in Denmark.

Due to the growing number of people aging with multiple sclerosis (MS), there has been a call for rehabilitation specially targeted older adults with MS in order to support them in better wellbeing, despite physical and cognitive impairment. However, the existing research within the area of rehabilitation has primarily focused on the physical and psychological aspects of aging with MS, omitting the social element. This study aims to examine how social relations and engagement in leisure activities predict wellbeing among older adults with MS living in Denmark. Furthermore, the study aims to identify which sociodemographic and health-related factors are the most important in predicting whether older adults with MS face challenges in participating in leisure activities and experiencing different kinds of social relations. A cross-sectional survey was designed to measure social relations, wellbeing, and engagement in leisure activities among older adults with MS. Of the 4,329 people over 65 years diagnosed with MS in Denmark in 2022, 2,574 (59.46%) were invited to participated in the study, and 1,107 (43.03%) ended up answering the survey. Linear and logistic regression analyses and dominance analyses were conducted to examine the associations between wellbeing, leisure activities, social relations, sociodemographic and health-related factors. The results of the study show that perceived emotional social support (mean difference 8.69, 95% CI 5.23; 12.14) and perceived instrumental social support (mean difference 4.15, 95% CI 0.95; 7.35), were associated with better wellbeing among older adults with MS. Perceived strained social relations (mean difference -7.95, 95% CI -10.66; -5.26) were on the contrary associated with lower levels of wellbeing. Strained social relations were the most important predictors of wellbeing accounting for 59% of the predicted variance. Experiencing social emotional support from friends, coworkers, or neighbors (39% of the predicted variance), experiencing instrumental social support from children or children in law (43% of the predicted variance), and experiencing strained social relations with partner (48% of the predicted variance) constituted he most important predictor of wellbeing. Engagement in five out of fourteen leisure activities were associated with better wellbeing among the participants. The leisure activities there was found to be the most important predictor of wellbeing represented both social (37% of the predicted variance), physical (18% of the predicted variance), and creative elements (13% of the predicted variance). Finally, cohabitation was found to be the most important predictor of having perceived emotional social support (59% of the predicted variance), instrumental social support (78.9% of the predicted variance) and strained social relations (18.8% of the predicted variance) and mobility was found to be the most important predictor of challenges in participating in leisure activities (81.8% of the predicted variance). The findings of the study highlight that rehabilitation targeting older adults with MS should focus on both physical, psychological, and social elements of peoples' everyday life. Further, the results indicate that future rehabilitation focusing on social elements of aging with MS should take into account health and sociodemographic characteristics such as cohabitation, mobility, age, and sex, as these potentially relate to participation in leisure activities as well as social relations among older adults.

Internet information as a factor of a person’s emotional and psychological well-being

Introduction. Information in modern society acts as a cultural tool influencing human socialisation processes. However, the amount of information consumed by a human is so extensive that it leads to information overload; its consequences on a person’s emotional and psychological well-being are not sufficiently studied, which determines the relevance of the present study. The issues of trust in mass media and human’s psychological well-being have been studied most often in modern psychological science as independent phenomena. Most often researchers focus on analysing the impact of news content on human well-being regardless of the extent of trust in it. The aim of the study was to reveal the relationship between the level of trust in digital media and a person’s emotional and psychological well-being. Materials and methods. The study involved 456 1st – 5th year students of the State University for Humanities and Social Studies (M=116, W=340, average age 19.7±2.8). The Integrative anxiety test; the Basic beliefs scale; the Psychological well-being scale were used to study one’s emotional and psychological well-being. The level of trust in mass media was measured with the use of the original questionnaire. Results. It was found that people who trust Internet media have more expressed emotional and personal problems reducing the level of their psychological well-being: anxiety about the future (p=0.004), depression (p=0.011), negative self-esteem and dissatisfaction with circumstances of their life (p=0.034). As shown by the factor analysis, the main correlatives of emotional and psychological ill-being in groups of those who trust and do not trust the media are as follows: expressed anxiety, low level of self-esteem and self-value, use of the emotional strategy for coping with stress (factor 2 “Emotional discomfort”). The ill-being of people who trust information in the Internet increases when they turn to the strategy of emotional social support in difficult situations, and the overall balance of well-being in people who do not trust the Internet can be disrupted in case of “crisis of beliefs” (factor 2 “Emotional discomfort”). Conclusion. The obtained results help to gain deeper understanding of the mechanisms of influence of Internet sources on human psychological well-being and to develop “healthy” media consumption programmes. Further research in this area can be focused on in-depth search for a set of determinant psychological variables – psychological well-being development protectors, with regard for gender, age and individual psychological characteristics of a person underlying trust in consumed information.