Youthful precursors of midlife social support

Measures of family stability, sociocultural background, and emotional ties to parents in medical students (N = 589, mean age = 22 years) predicted their social support measures, assessed 23 to 39 years later (mean age = 56 years). Father's education and family's involvement in church were positively associated with group participation (number of group memberships), whereas parental loss between the ages of 11 and 20 was negatively associated with group participation; perceived emotional closeness to parents was positively associated with social closeness (number of close contacts providing emotional and instrumental support). Thus, group participation and social closeness were influenced by distinctly different childhood factors.     

Role of social support in the experience of stress at work.

It has been hypothesized that the positive relation between stress and strain responses is stronger for individuals who have low levels of social support than for those who have high levels of support. This hypothesis that social support buffers the negative effects of stress has been tested extensively in a variety of settings, with highly conflicting results. Some theorists have recently proposed that the moderating effect of social support is itself buffered by other variables such as sex or social class. The present study examined the role of social support in the experience of work stress with a sample large enough to provide statistically powerful tests of models of social support that specify 2- and 3-way interactions. Data were obtained from 326 employees (mean age 32.5 yrs). No support for higher order interactive models was found. In addition, no evidence emerged demonstrating any buffering effect for social support. Arguments are advanced for a parsimonious model in which social support has a modest direct effect of lowering experienced strain. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents and contexts of generativity motivation at midlife.

A semiprojective measure of generativity motivation—the desire to contribute to the welfare of society—was developed and applied to a longitudinal sample of educated women. In support of previous theory that generativity represents a fusion of agency and communion, generativity at midlife was related to a combination of adolescent scores on achievement, affiliation, and power motivation. The measure was also related to independent indexes of generative wishes and Q-sort generativity. The importance of contextualizing generativity motivation is demonstrated: Generative women with careers found gratification through work, whereas generative women not working in careers experienced gratification through parenting. Generativity was also related to political consciousness. Finally, as young adults, generative women expressed gratitude toward mentors. The authors discuss theoretical implications for Erikson's (1950) concept of psychosocial generativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactive effects of extraversion, neuroticism, and social relationships on subjective well-being.

Previous research has indicated that there is a relation between extraversion and subjective well-being (SWB), and that the sociability component of extraversion primarily accounts for this relation. Interactive effects of extraversion and social relationship variables on SWB were hypothesized and found in Study 1 using the Extraversion scale from the 16 PF, the Well-Being subscale of the Differential Personality Questionnaire, and several social relationship scales administered to 291 college students. Several multiple regression analyses indicated that strength of social relationships was a strong predictor of SWB only for introverted individuals. Study 2 replicated these findings with the Eysenck Personality Inventory and revealed important interactive relations between extraversion, neuroticism, and social relationships in predicting SWB. A strong relationship between extraversion and SWB occurred only among individuals who were highly neurotic or who had poor social relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of work on women at midlife.

Examined the impact of employment status on the self-esteem, psychological well-being, and physical health of 389 middle-aged (40–59 yrs old) women (206 employed outside the home and 183 homemakers). Ss completed a number of scales of psychological well-being (including the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Lack of Depression Scale) from the national survey, The Survey of Modern Living, conducted in 1976. Results indicate that working Ss at midlife had higher self-esteem and less psychological anxiety than homemakers. Working Ss also reported being in better physical health than homemakers. Findings suggest that work may act as a stabilizing force for women during critical periods throughout the life cycle. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture and social support.

Social support is one of the most effective means by which people can cope with stressful events. Yet little research has examined whether there are cultural differences in how people utilize their social support networks. A review of studies on culture and social support presents evidence that Asians and Asian Americans are more reluctant to explicitly ask for support from close others than are European Americans because they are more concerned about the potentially negative relational consequences of such behaviors. Asians and Asian Americans are more likely to use and benefit from forms of support that do not involve explicit disclosure of personal stressful events and feelings of distress. Discussion centers on the potential implications of these findings for intercultural interactions and for the use of mental health services by Asians and Asian Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between identity in young adulthood and intimacy at midlife.

A longitudinal study with 67 males and 75 females examined the relation between the development of ego identity by young adulthood and the establishment and maintenance of stable and enduring intimate interpersonal relationships by midlife. This relation was investigated further to discover how it might differ between men and women. As undergraduates, Ss completed measures of their demographic and psychometric characteristics, in addition to an identity scale, in 1963; in 1981, these Ss completed a follow-up questionnaire containing questions regarding their marital status (the measure of intimacy) and their personal, family, and professional life. The identity scale was initially cross-validated with other personality measures, such as the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), before being related to subsequent intimacy patterns. The achievement of ego identity was found to be important for the establishment (for men) and stability (for women) of marital relationships. Additional sex differences in happiness and spheres of life satisfaction were also found. These differences suggest differing developmental courses for young men and women as they establish themselves in the adult world. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting women's well-being in midlife: The importance of personality development and social role involvements.

Theories of adult development suggest that both personality and social roles are sources of adult well-being, but most research has examined only social roles. An integrated model was used, including personality, number of roles, and role quality, to predict well-being in 2 longitudinal studies of college-educated women. Results for both samples indicated that role quality and personality development were important components of the path to well-being, whereas number of roles occupied was important mainly in early adulthood. Moreover, the results provided support for E. Erikson's (1968) notion of the importance of the sequencing of personality development for later well-being. Path analyses indicated that engagement in multiple roles during early adulthood facilitated the development of identity, which predicted generativity and role quality, which in turn predicted well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Realization of generativity in two samples of women at midlife.

On the basis of E. H. Erikson's (1950/1963) theory of midlife development, a measure of generativity realization was constructed with items from J. Block's (1961/1978) California Adult Q-Set (CAQ). Convergent and discriminant validity for the new CAQ measure were established through a survey of 2 samples of educated women at about 43 years of age (N?=?208). These 2 samples, 1 from a study of Mills College graduates and the other from a study of Radcliffe College graduates, were also used to examine the personality, attitudinal, and life outcome correlates of generativity at midlife. Results indicated that generative women have prosocial personality characteristics, express generative attitudes through their work, are invested in the parenting process, and exhibit an expanded radius of care. In general, results conceptually replicated in the Mills and Radcliffe samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in job strain, social support at work, and psychological distress.

Using the demand-control-support model of job strain, the authors examined gender differences in the relationship between psychosocial work exposures and psychological distress in a cross-sectional sample of 7,484 employed Canadians. Compared with low-strain work, high-strain and active work were associated with a significantly higher level of distress in both men and women. Differences in psychological distress in relation to psychosocial work exposures were greater for men than for women. Low social support was associated with higher distress across all categories of job strain, and the combined effect of low social support and high job strain was associated with the greatest increase in distress. This pattern was similar in men and women. This study suggests that psychosocial work exposures may be a more significant determinant of psychological well-being in male workers compared with female workers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring general social support in alcoholic patients: Short forms for perceived social support.

Previous studies identify a positive association between social support and favorable posttreatment functioning. The next step for this line of inquiry is to identify the mechanisms through which social relationships affect alcohol treatment outcome by discrimination of the types and sources of social support. This article presents versions of the Perceived Social Support instrument (M. Procidano & K. Heller, 1983), which measures support from both family and friends. The item sets are reduced from 20 to 7 and ask identical questions from these two support sources. The internal consistency for the Family scale (α?=?.84) and for the Friends scale (α?=?.81) is acceptable. Test-retest reliability is also good for both the Family (r?=?.94) and the Friends (r?=?.88) scales. Correlations with social functioning and alcohol involvement are similar between the short scales and the original 20 items. Normative levels of family and friends support by gender are presented. These scales expand the ability to include a multifaceted social support construct in comprehensive assessments of alcohol treatment populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional support and well-being of midlife women: Role-specific mastery as a mediational mechanism.

This study examined the relationships among emotional support, mastery, and well-being for 258 women who simultaneously occupied the roles of wife, mother, parent care provider, and employee. Its primary aim was to determine if a greater sense of mastery in each of these 4 roles could explain the relationship between emotional support from the partner or partners in the same role (the husband, children, impaired parent, or work supervisor) and better psychological well-being (less depressive symptomatology and more life satisfaction). Findings revealed that more emotional support from each of the 4 role partners was related to a greater sense of mastery in that same role. Furthermore, for each of the roles of wife, mother, and employee, role-specific mastery was a mediating mechanism in the relationship between support from the role partner or partners and better well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived social support and community adaptation in schizophrenia

Prompted by the continuing transition to community care, mental health nurses are considering the role of social support in community adaptation. This article demonstrates the importance of distinguishing between kinds of social support and presents findings from the first round data of a longitudinal study of community adaptation in 156 people with schizophrenia conducted in Brisbane, Australia. All clients were interviewed using the relevant subscales of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule to confirm a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia. The study set out to investigate the relationship between community adaptation and social support. Community adaptation was measured with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Life Skills Profile (LSP) and measures of dissatisfaction with life and problems in daily living developed by the authors. Social support was measured with the Arizona Social Support Interview Schedule (ASSIS). The BPRS and ASSIS were incorporated into a client interview conducted by trained interviewers. The LSP was completed on each client by an informal carer (parent, relative or friend) or a professional carer (case manager or other health professional) nominated by the client. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between community adaptation and four sets of social support variables. Given the order in which variables were entered in regression equations, a set of perceived social support variables was found to account for the largest unique variance of four measures of community adaptation in 96 people with schizophrenia for whom complete data are available from the first round of the three-wave longitudinal study. A set of the subjective experiences of the clients accounted for the largest unique variance in measures of symptomatology, life skills, dissatisfaction with life, and problems in daily living. Sets of community support, household support and functional variables accounted for less variance. Implications for mental health nursing practice are considered.     

基于高校的社会支持对贫困大学生心理健康的塑造作用

当前,高校贫困大学生普遍承受着巨大的经济压力和一定的精神压力,是心理问题的高发群体.社会支持对心理健康有独特的塑造作用和积极的促进意义,其中,高校是大学生社会支持的重要来源之一.从社会支持理论角度分析贫困大学生容易出现的心理问题及其产生的原因,提出了高校构建贫困大学生社会支持系统的若干建议:(1)建立贫困大学生档案-辅以经济支持;(2)构建和谐的校园文化-增强交往支持;(3)开展大学生社团活动-促进参与支持;(4)设立心理咨询中心-树立心理支持.     

Differential relations of depression and social anxiety symptoms to the facets of extraversion/positive emotionality.

Previous research has shown that both depression and social anxiety—2 facets of internalizing psychopathology—are characterized by low levels of extraversion/positive emotionality (E/PE). However, little is known about the relations of the facets of E/PE with the symptoms of depression and social anxiety. This study utilized multiple measures of each facet of E/PE, as well as depression and social anxiety symptoms. Self-report data were collected from large samples of college students and psychiatric outpatients. Separate factor analyses in each sample revealed a 4-factor structure of E/PE consisting of Sociability, Positive Emotionality, Ascendance, and Fun-Seeking. Structural equation modeling revealed that, after controlling for the higher order internalizing factor and the overlap among the E/PE facets, social anxiety was broadly related to all 4 facets of E/PE, whereas depression was strongly related to only low positive emotionality. Implications for hierarchical models of personality and psychopathology, assessment and treatment, and etiological models are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Received and perceived social support in times of stress: A test of the social support deterioration deterrence model.

The authors evaluated the impact of receiving social support on subsequent levels of perceived social support and psychological distress in 2 independent samples of victims of severe natural disasters: Hurricane Hugo (n?=?498) and Hurricane Andrew (n?=?404). A social support deterioration deterrence model was proposed that stipulated that postdisaster mobilization of received support counteracts the deterioration in expectations of support often experienced by victims of major life events. LISREL analyses of data collected 12 and 24 months after Hugo and 6 and 28 months after Andrew provided strong evidence for the hypothesized model: Perceived support mediated the long-term effects on distress of both scope of disaster exposure and postdisaster received support. Theoretical and application issues of social support are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Women's health in midlife: the influence of the menopause, social factors and health in earlier life

OBJECTIVE: To describe the health symptoms of a large representative sample of British women at age 47 years, and to examine the influence of the menopause allowing for social factors and health in earlier adult life. DESIGN: A national prospective birth cohort study. Information on health problems, menstrual cycle, use of hormone replacement therapy and life stress at 47 years was collected using a postal questionnaire. Information on health, smoking behaviour and educational attainment earlier in life had been collected at previous home visits. SETTING: England, Scotland and Wales. POPULATION: A general population sample of 1498 women, 84% of those sent a questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Twenty self-reported health symptoms over the previous 12 months. RESULTS: Women who had experienced an early natural menopause had a strongly raised risk of vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes or night sweats), sexual difficulties (vaginal dryness or difficulties with intercourse) and trouble sleeping. However, there was little or no excess risk of other somatic or psychological symptoms. In contrast, all types of symptoms were more common among women who had had a hysterectomy or were users of hormone replacement therapy. Women with the least education, stressful lives, or a previous history of poor physical and psychological health at age 36 also reported more symptoms at 47 years compared with other women, but adjustment for these factors in a logistic regression model did not affect the relations between symptoms and current menopausal status. For vasomotor symptoms, postmenopausal women had an adjusted odds ratio of 4.7 (95% CI 2.6-8.5) and perimenopausal women had an adjusted odds ratio of 2.6 (95% CI 1.9-3.5) compared with premenopausal women. Corresponding adjusted odds ratios for sexual difficulties were 3.9 (95% CI 2.1-7.1) and 2.2 (95% CI 1.4-3.2), and for trouble sleeping were 3.4 (95% CI 1.9-6.2) and 1.5 (95% CI 1.1-2.0). CONCLUSIONS: Specific symptoms were clearly associated with the natural menopause. More general health concerns were common among women in middle life, particularly among those with stressful lives, or those who had had a hysterectomy or started taking hormone replacement therapy before they were postmenopausal. Appropriate advice and support needs to be easily accessible.     

Cross-sectional studies of personality in a national sample: II. Stability in neuroticism, extraversion, and openness.

Investigated age differences in neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study conducted by J. Cornoni-Huntley et al (1983). Cross-sectional analyses of data from 10,063 32–88 yr old Ss showed that older Ss were slightly lower in neuroticism, extraversion, and openness; that age trends were not curvilinear; and that there were no differences in personality scores that might be attributable to a mid-life crisis or transition. Comparison with data from 654 20–96 yr old Ss in the Augmented Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (ABLSA) showed that the ABLSA sample was lower in extraversion and higher in openness than the national sample, although the differences were small in magnitude. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obesity in Austria: epidemiologic and social medicine aspects

The importance of overweight not only for individual health and life expectancy but also for resulting health economics is stressed considering data from Austria. Epidemiology of overweight in Austria shows 8.5% of the population to be morbidly obese (Body Mass Index [BMI] higher than 30) and 14.5% overweight (BMI between 27 and 29.9). Prevalence of overweight in Austria shows a very masked decrease from eastern to the western districts of the country. As in other countries correlation of overweight with cardiovascular risk factors (cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and systolic blood pressure) was found to be highly significant also in Austrian health screening programs. As far as treatment of overweight and its prevention is concerned not only short term weight loss, but it maintenance is important. Not only a realistic change in feeding behaviour and dieting but also a change in life style including regular physical activity is recommended requiring repeated and long-term controlling by qualified persons of the health profession.     

Neuroticism and extraversion in Turner's Syndrome.

Administered the Maudsley Personality Inventory to 5 groups of female Ss: (a) 13 Turner Syndrome Ss (mean age 19 yrs 2 mo) with karyotype 45X, (b) 18 Turner Syndrome (TS) Ss (mean age 26 yrs 11 mo) with other types of sex chromosomal abnormalities, (c) 16 sisters of Ss (mean age 24 yrs 2 mo), (d) 9 Ss with growth retardation and primary amenorrhea (mean age 22 yrs 4 mo), and (e) 19 nurses (mean age 22 yrs 8 mo). The results are compared to English and American normative values. The total group of TS Ss obtained a low Neuroticism (N) score compared to the control groups. When the total group was divided on the basis of their karyotypes, the low N score could be referred solely to Ss with karyotype 45X, who scored significantly lower than any other group tested so far with the MPI. TS Ss with chromosomal abnormalities other than 45X scored within normal limits. No variables other than karyotype 45X were related to an extremely low N score. It is concluded that exceptional emotional stability, as reflected in a very low N score on the MPI, is concomitant with the total absence of one sex chromosome, which is probably due to a developmental abnormality of the CNS. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)