Social Support Network Size Research Articles

Social networks, mental health problems, and mental health service utilization in OEF/OIF National Guard veterans.

Low social support and small social network size have been associated with a variety of negative mental health outcomes, while their impact on mental health services use is less clear. To date, few studies have examined these associations in National Guard service members, where frequency of mental health problems is high, social support may come from military as well as other sources, and services use may be suboptimal. Surveys were administered to 1448 recently returned National Guard members. Multivariable regression models assessed the associations between social support characteristics, probable mental health conditions, and service utilization. In bivariate analyses, large social network size, high social network diversity, high perceived social support, and high military unit support were each associated with lower likelihood of having a probable mental health condition (p<.001). In adjusted analyses, high perceived social support (OR .90, CI .88-.92) and high unit support (OR .96, CI .94-.97) continued to be significantly associated with lower likelihood of mental health conditions. Two social support measures were associated with lower likelihood of receiving mental health services in bivariate analyses, but were not significant in adjusted models. General social support and military-specific support were robustly associated with reduced mental health symptoms in National Guard members. Policy makers, military leaders, and clinicians should attend to service members' level of support from both the community and their units and continue efforts to bolster these supports. Other strategies, such as focused outreach, may be needed to bring National Guard members with need into mental health care.

Prenatal reflective functioning in primiparous women with a high-risk profile.

The concept of maternal reflective functioning (RF) has been gaining increasing interest as a possible intermediate mechanism in associations between a wide range of psychosocial risk factors and poor child outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to determine which psychosocial risk factors are linked to prenatal RF in a high-risk (HR) group of primiparous women. Differences in prenatal RF between the HR group and a low-risk (LR) control group also were examined. The sample consisted of 162 women (M = 22.22 years, SD = 2.39; 83 classified as HR). RF was coded from the Pregnancy Interview (A. Slade, 2007a). Risk status was assessed by means of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-plus (M.I.N.I.-plus; D.V. Sheehan etal., 1997) and several questionnaires. HR women demonstrated significantly lower RF quality than did the LR group. Regression analyses indicated that maternal education, size of social support network, and substance use during pregnancy were the strongest predictors of prenatal RF for the HR group. The results suggest that maternal RF potentially could be an important target for those prevention and intervention programs that aim to reduce adverse psychosocial development in offspring of HR mothers.

Emotion Identification Skill and Social Support During Adolescence: A Three‐Year Longitudinal Study

Emotion identification skill (EIS) has been correlated with social support, but little research has examined the extent that EIS is a developmental precursor to supportive relationships. The present study investigated the longitudinal relationships between EIS and social support in adolescence. Participants were 903 (464 males; 439 females) Australian high school students, with 314 participating in all four waves. Students completed questionnaires annually from Grade 9 to Grade 12, including self‐report measures of (1) EIS, (2) social support network size, and (3) quality of social support. Cross‐lagged structural equation modeling supported a reciprocal influence model, with social support and EIS mutually influencing each other's development. We discuss the implications of this finding for the positive development of EIS and social support.

Is Self‐Esteem a Cause or Consequence of Social Support? A 4‐Year Longitudinal Study

Considerable research has been devoted to examining the relations between self-esteem and social support. However, the exact nature and direction of these relations are not well understood. Measures of self-esteem, and social support quantity and quality were administered to 961 adolescents across five yearly time points (M(age) = 13.41 years). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to test between a self-esteem antecedent model (self-esteem precedes changes in social support), self-esteem consequence model (social support precedes change in self-esteem), and a reciprocal influence model. Self-esteem reliably predicted increasing levels of social support quality and network size across time. In contrast, the consequence model was not supported. The implications of this for helping adolescents to develop higher quality social support structures are discussed.

The physical and mental health of lesbian, gay male, and bisexual (LGB) older adults: the role of key health indicators and risk and protective factors.

Based on resilience theory, this paper investigates the influence of key health indicators and risk and protective factors on health outcomes (including general health, disability, and depression) among lesbian, gay male, and bisexual (LGB) older adults. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with LGB older adults, aged 50 and older (N = 2,439). Logistic regressions were conducted to examine the contributions of key health indicators (access to health care and health behaviors), risk factors (lifetime victimization, internalized stigma, and sexual identity concealment), and protective factors (social support and social network size) to health outcomes, when controlling for background characteristics. The findings revealed that lifetime victimization, financial barriers to health care, obesity, and limited physical activity independently and significantly accounted for poor general health, disability, and depression among LGB older adults. Internalized stigma was also a significant predictor of disability and depression. Social support and social network size served as protective factors, decreasing the odds of poor general health, disability, and depression. Some distinct differences by gender and sexual orientation were also observed. High levels of poor general health, disability, and depression among LGB older adults are of major concern. These findings highlight the important role of key risk and protective factors, which significantly influences health outcomes among LGB older adults. Tailored interventions must be developed to address the distinct health issues facing this historically disadvantaged population.

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.

The Satisfaction Level on Social Relationships and Related Factors among the Female Elderly Living alone

This study investigates the satisfaction level of social relationships between the female elderly living alone and their children, siblings, and friends, and tries to find affecting factors the level of satisfaction on their social relationships. In order to achieve these study goals, this study utilizes “2008 National Data on the Elderly.” The data are analyzed using statistical program SPSS 17.0, and utilizes descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentiles, and averages and multiple regression analysis.<BR> Major research findings are as follows. First, female elderly living alone are the most satisfied with the relationship with their friends, while they are the least satisfied with their siblings. Second, the size of the informal social support network does not have significant influence on the satisfaction level of social relationship. Third, the frequencies to contact children or siblings have significant impact on the satisfaction level while those to meet friends have significant effect on the satisfaction level. Fourth, education level, religion, and economic status(both objective and subjective) have significant influence on the level of satisfaction with social relationships.

Trajectories of emotional well-being in mothers of adolescents and adults with autism.

Raising an adolescent or adult child with a developmental disability confers exceptional caregiving challenges on parents. We examined trajectories of 2 indicators of emotional well-being (depressive symptoms and anxiety) in a sample of primarily Caucasian mothers (N = 379; M age = 51.22 years at Time 1) of adolescent and adult children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD; M age = 21.91 years at Time 1, 73.2% male). We also investigated within-person associations of child context time-varying covariates (autism symptoms, behavior problems, residential status) and maternal context time-varying covariates (social support network size and stressful family events) with the trajectories of emotional well-being. Data were collected on 5 occasions across a 10-year period. Average patterns of stable (depressive symptoms) and improved (anxiety) emotional well-being were evident, and well-being trajectories were sensitive to fluctuations in both child and maternal context variables. On occasions when behavior problems were higher, depressive symptoms and anxiety were higher. On occasions after which the grown child moved out of the family home, anxiety was lower. Anxiety was higher on occasions when social support networks were smaller and when more stressful life events were experienced. These results have implications for midlife and aging families of children with an ASD and those who provide services to these families.

Reality Television as a Model for Online Behavior: Blogging, Photo, and Video Sharing

This research explores traditional mass media as an antecedent to nondirected self-disclosure online. New Internet-based tools allow users to communicate with global audiences, and to make intimate personal information available to this audience. At the same time, a culture that rewards the public performance of private thoughts and emotions is increasingly evident in ‘‘reality’’ television (RTV) programming. This study used survey data to examine RTV consumption, authoritarianism, and users’ offline social context as potential antecedents for nondirected self-disclosure via blogs, online photo sharing, and online video sharing. RTV consumption correlated with blogging and video sharing, but not photo sharing. Social support network size was a significant correlate of photo sharing, indicating that photo sharing may be a more relational activity.

Relations between social support, appraisal and coping and both positive and negative outcomes for children of a parent with multiple sclerosis and comparisons with children of healthy parents

Objective: To examine adjustment in children of a parent with multiple sclerosis within a stress and coping framework and compare them with those who have ‘healthy’ parents. Subjects: A total of 193 participants between 10 and 25 years completed questionnaires; 48 youngsters who had a parent with multiple sclerosis and 145 youngsters who reported that they did not have a parent with an illness or disability. Method: A questionnaire survey methodology was used. Variable sets included caregiving context (e.g. additional parental illness, family responsibilities, parental functional impairment, choice in helping), social support (network size, satisfaction), stress appraisal, coping (problem solving, seeking support, acceptance, wishful thinking, denial), and positive (life satisfaction, positive affect, benefits) and negative (distress, health) adjustment outcomes. Results: Caregiving context variables significantly correlated with poorer adjustment in children of a parent with multiple sclerosis included additional parental illness, higher family responsibilities, parental functional impairment and unpredictability of the parent's multiple sclerosis, and less choice in helping. As predicted, better adjustment in children of a parent with multiple sclerosis was related to higher levels of social support, lower stress appraisals, greater reliance on approach coping strategies (problem solving, seeking support and acceptance) and less reliance on avoidant coping (wishful thinking and denial). Compared with children of ‘healthy’ parents, children of a parent with multiple sclerosis reported greater family responsibilities, less reliance on problem solving and seeking social support coping, higher somatization and lower life satisfaction and positive affect. Conclusions: Findings delineate the key impacts of young caregiving and support a stress and coping model of adjustment in children of a parent with multiple sclerosis.

The Attainment of Important Health Goals Throughout Adulthood: An Integration of the Theory of Planned Behavior and Aspects of Social Support

This research integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with aspects of social support and explores the utility of variables within each model in predicting the attainment of important health goals. Incorporating an idiographic methodology, 290 respondents ranging in age from 27 to 87 years were administered a postal survey and completed a brief follow-up telephone survey months later. The postal survey included measures of respondent's most important health goals, attitudes, motivation to comply with subjective norms, control beliefs, behavioral intention, and plan-of-action for attaining the health goal, as well as aspects of social support. The follow-up telephone survey inquired into respondents' successful goal attainment and health. Results indicate association, between TPB components and aspects of social support. Further, the emotional and instrumental support provided by a family member or friend and size of social support network were found to be unique predictors of health goal attainment after controlling for TPB components. The importance of personalized goals and social support in designing health interventions for older adults is discussed.

Social support satisfaction of Australian children

This is the first in-depth study of the social support satisfaction of Australian children, measured using the “My Family and Friends” interview (Reid, Landesman, Treder, &amp; Jaccard, 1989). This, together with the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985), was administered to 70 Adelaide children aged 9–11. A main effect of support provider and an interaction between support type and provider were found. Self-esteem was predicted by both overall social support satisfaction and network size. The Australian children reported lower levels and different patterns of support in comparison with previously published data from the USA. Australian parents were perceived as less “generalist” in their support, giving particularly low levels of companionship support. Friends gave high levels of companionship support but low levels of all other types; this, as in the case of parents, makes Australian friends more “specialist” supporters than their US counterparts.

Computer-Mediated Social Support, Older Adults, and Coping

One important new context of communication for older adults is computer-mediated communication (CMC). Although the Internet has become an important resource for information, little is known about the ways in which individuals use this technology for social support. Older adults (mean age = 62) using SeniorNet and other related websites completed an on-line questionnaire (N = 136) investigating social support in the computer-mediated environment. Satisfaction with Internet providers of social support was significantly higher for high Internet users than for low Internet users whereas low Internet users were more satisfied with their non-Internet support networks than high Internet users. Internet companionship network size was significantly larger than Internet social support network size. Greater involvement with the on-line community was predictive of lower perceived life stress. Social support and companionship satisfaction were not related to the types of coping strategies used; however, the results indicate that direct action was the most common coping strategy for the sample.

Perceptions of on‐line support providers: An examination of perceived homophily, source credibility, communication and social support within on‐line support groups

The study examined perceptions of support providers, social support network size and network satisfaction, and the advantages and disadvantages of computer‐mediated support groups among (N = 107) on‐line support group users. The results indicated that the amount of time a person spent communicating within these groups and the number of messages received within on‐line groups was related to support group network size and network satisfaction. Perceptions of source credibility and homophily were also related to on‐line network size and network satisfaction. Finally, a number of advantages and disadvantages to receiving and providing support on‐line were reported by respondents.

Understanding the Human—Cat Relationship: Human Social Support or Attachment

ABSTRACTThe goal of this study was to assess whether the widespread popularity of cats can best be explained using either attachment theory or social support theory. To assess the degree of attachment to the cat, and the size of the human social support network, we used five different questionnaires: In a first mailing we sent the LAPS (Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale) questionnaire (Garrity et al. 1989) and the SSQ6 (Social Support Questionnaire; Sarason et al. 1983, 1987) to 370 women volunteering to participate in the study. Three hundred and forty and 330 women respectively, returned correctly completed questionnaires. In a second mailing we sent these participants the NSSQ (Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire; Norbeck et al. 1981, 1983) and two questionnaires by Bradshaw and Limond (1997), one assessing attachment to the cat (BrAtt), the other emotional support from the cat (BrES). Of these, 290, 295, and 293, respectively, were correctly completed and returned.We found a positive correlation between the results of the two attachment scales (LAPS and BrAtt) and between the numbers of people (significant others) listed by the participants in the two social support scales (SSQ6 and NSSQ). Attachment to the cat assessed with the LAPS correlated negatively with the number of significant human others in the SSQ6 and NSSQ. It also correlated negatively with both emotional and tangible human support, two subscales of social support assessed in the NSSQ. The number of people in the household, determined independently of the social support questionnaires, correlated negatively with both attachment scales (BrAtt and LAPS), but there was no significant correlation with the number of significant others listed in the NSSQ or SSQ6. The number of children in the household, also assessed independently, correlated negatively with the LAPS but showed no significant correlation with the BrAtt scale.Overall our results indicate that for some participants, cats may substitute for persons in the social network. In most cases, however, cats appear to be an additional source of emotional support, especially for those participants who are strongly attached to their animals. We conclude that both attachment and social support are at work in these human—cat relationships, and that the relative importance of each depends upon the individual person.

Mediation effect of social support between ethnic attachment and loneliness in older Korean immigrants.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the mediating effect of two types of social support (emotional and tangible support) between ethnic attachment and loneliness in older Korean immigrants. Emotional and tangible social support had three components; network size, network composition, and satisfaction with network members. The sample consisted of 174 older Korean immigrants who lived in a metropolitan area. Telephone interviews were used to collect data using translated Korean versions of the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, Ethnic Attachment Questionnaire, and the Revised Social Support Questionnaire. Emotional and tangible social support network size and satisfaction mediated the effect of ethnic attachment on loneliness. Older Koreans who had stronger ethnic attachment had more emotional and tangible supports, were more satisfied with their supports, and had a lower level of loneliness. Emotional and tangible social network composition did not serve as mediators in this study.

Suicidal behaviors in depressed men with a family history of suicide: Effects of psychosocial factors and age

Effects of impaired social support and stressful life events on non-lethal suicidal behaviors were examined in a clinical sample of high-risk patients: depressed adult men with a family history of suicide or attempted suicide. All subjects (N = 79) were participants in the Mental Health Clinical Research Center (MHCRC) for the Study of Depression in Later Life (Duke University, USA). Outcome measures were self-reported one-year histories of three suicide-related ideation symptoms and attempted suicide. One-year prevalences for these outcomes were: death ideation, 58%; death wish, 48%; suicidal ideation, 57%; and attempted suicide, 11%. In adjusted models, none of the four measures of social support (network size, frequency of social interaction, receipt of instrumental support, and subjective social support) increased the odds of any outcome. Thus, in this high-risk group, impaired social support did not appear to increase the odds of one-year history of any form of suicide-related ideation or of attempted suicide. The number of negative life events experienced during the year before the study interview was not associated with increased odds of any ideation symptom, but was marginally higher in men who had attempted suicide during that year. Older age was significantly protective against explicit suicidal ideation (OR 0.95, CI 0.91-0.99) in this sample, but did not affect the odds of attempted suicide.

The social support networks of procrastinators: Friends or family in times of trouble?

Across two studies behavioral procrastination was not significantly related to social support network size or social desirability. In the first study ( n=116), however, procrastination tendencies were significantly related to satisfaction with social and emotional support received from one's friends but not from one's immediate family members. In the second study ( n=107), procrastination tendencies were significantly related to more conflicts in relationship with one's parents and best friend of the same sex, as well as less depth in the relationship with one's father and same sex best friend. Results from these studies were obtained for both men and women. It seems that frequent procrastination may be associated with poor family relations and disrupted or dissatisfying social relationships.

Social support, stress, and age in women undergoing breast biopsies.

The relationship among stress, age, and social support was explored in 30 women scheduled for a breast biopsy. Stress was determined using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory. Social support strength and network size were measured using the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire in this correlational study. Findings demonstrated that women do experience stress before their biopsies. Stress was also found to have a negative correlation with social support strength. Moreover, although statistically insignificant, these women tended to have increased stress with aging until age 40, then stress decreased with increasing age. Additional research should replicate the natural age division of < or = 40 years and > 40 years in a larger sample of women. Advanced practitioners are ideally suited to affect patient outcomes by providing social support. This social support could consist of facilitated support groups or access to the information needed by women during this stressful diagnostic experience.

Assessing Social Support in Elementary School Children: The Survey of Children's Social Support

We devised a self-report Survey of Children's Social Support (SOCSS) to assess three potential aspects of social support in elementary school age children: the frequency of supportive behaviors available from the child's support network (Scale of Available Behaviors, or SAB); the child's subjective appraisals of family, teacher, and peer support (APP); and the size of the child's social support network (NET). With a sample of 361 third through fifth graders, test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities were acceptable. Moderate correlations existed between SAB and APP. However, neither of these two measures was related to NET. In addition, significant relations between the SOCSS and other indices of social support and self-esteem provided evidence for the validity of the SOCSS.