Social support, life events, and stress as modifiers of adjustment to bereavement by older adults.

As part of a larger panel study, interviews were obtained from 3 samples of older adults: 45 persons who had recently lost a spouse, 40 who had lost a parent or child, and 45 who were not bereaved. Assessments were conducted before and after the deaths. In the widowed sample, health remained quite stable, but depression increased sharply, then remained elevated. Changes were minimal in the sample who had lost a parent or child and in the nonbereaved sample. Multiple regression procedures were used to identify factors that contribute to depression and health 9 months after the spouse's death. Postbereavement depression was associated with higher prebereavement depression, higher financial pressures, higher global stress, fewer new interests, and lower social support. Health was a function of prebereavement health, new interests, financial pressures, and global stress. In general, life events and resources had stronger effects in the widowed sample than in the comparison samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support as a buffer in the relationship between socioeconomic status and academic performance.

The present study was an investigation of the potential moderating effect of social support on academic performance for students living in poverty. Data were collected in one urban middle school from 164 primarily Hispanic students using the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS; Malecki, Demaray, & Elliott, 2000) and students' course grade point averages (GPA). Regarding socioeconomic status (SES), students were classified as lower-SES if they received free or reduced-cost lunches or higher-SES if they did not receive free or reduced-cost lunches. First, for students with higher SES, correlational analyses revealed no significant associations between social support and academic performance as measured by GPA. Alternatively, for students of lower SES, significant, moderate associations were found between GPA scores and social support scores. Second, as predicted, regression analyses provided evidence that social support may moderate the relationship between poverty and academic performance. Implications for school psychologists and suggestions for future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support as a mediator of optimism and distress in breast cancer survivors.

Breast cancer patients can experience emotional distress as a result of diagnosis and treatment. Higher levels of optimism and social support are associated with less emotional distress in cancer patients. This 12-month prospective study followed 69 women who had completed treatment for Stages 0-11 breast cancer. At 3-month intervals, participants completed measures of mood disturbance, optimism, and social support. As hypothesized, affective social support mediated the relationship between optimism and distress in early-stage breast cancer survivors at baseline and 6 months but not at 1 year. In contrast, confidant social support did not mediate the optimism-distress relationship at any time point. Clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maintenance of quality of life improvements in diverse rural older adults.

The maintenance of effects from home-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) was examined. One hundred thirty-four participants, predominantly African American and primarily rural, low-resource, and physically frail, were randomly assigned to either immediate or delayed CBT. The six-month follow-up assessments indicated that among those who remained in the study, participants evidenced significantly improved quality of life and reductions in psychological symptoms at follow-up, relative to pretreatment levels. Posttreatment gains were maintained at follow-up. These data suggest that treatment effects can be achieved and perhaps maintained with a disadvantaged sample of older adults and suggest that evidence-based treatments delivered through nontraditional means can have effects beyond posttreatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Activity, event transactions, and quality of life in older adults.

A multidimensional assessment of activity and subjective well-being based on a cognitive model of event causation was tested in a sample of 60 older adults. Activity was conceptualized as involving the occurrence of an event, the presence or absence of a response to that event, and the hedonic tone of the outcome of that transaction. Events were categorized as to whether the environment or the individual initiated them: demands or desires, respectively. Well-being was conceptualized as having two independent components, positive and negative, assessed by positive and negative mood scales and general well-being and quality-of-life scales. Analyses showed that older adults who were responsive to events reported more positive well-being, but high responding was also associated with negative aspects of well-being. Demands interacted with desire responding and outcome; affective outcomes of desired actions were significantly influenced by the occurrence of demand events. Results are interpreted in an expanded model of activity theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Presidential Address-1976. Social support as a moderator of life stress

Social support is defined as information leading the subject to believe that he is cared for and loved, esteemed, and a member of a network of mutual obligations. The evidence that supportive interactions among people are protective against the health consequences of life stress is reviewed. It appears that social support can protect people in crisis from a wide variety of pathological states: from low birth weight to death, from arthritis through tuberculosis to depression, alcoholism, and the social breakdown syndrome. Furthermore, social support may reduce the amount of medication required, accelerate recovery, and facilitate compliance with prescribed medical regimens.     

Social support and positive health practices in young adults. Loneliness as a mediating variable

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which loneliness mediates the relationship between perceived social support and positive health practices of young adults, ages 22 to 34, by testing a mediational model of relationships in a three-variable system developed through theory and previous research. Data were collected from 70 young adults who were attending classes in a large urban university. They responded to the PRQ85-Part II, the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Lifestyle Questionnaire, and a demographic data sheet. Statistically significant correlations were found between perceived social support and positive health practices, perceived social support and loneliness, and loneliness and positive health practices. A series of regression analyses designed to test for mediation were performed. The results indicated that loneliness is a dominant mediator in the relationship between perceived social support and positive health practice. Implications for practices are discussed.     

Improving quality of life in diverse rural older adults: A randomized trial of a psychological treatment.

The efficacy of home-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in improving quality of life and reducing psychological symptoms in older adults was examined in this study. One hundred thirty-four participants, predominately African American and characterized as primarily rural, low resource, and physically frail, were randomly assigned to either CBT or a minimal support control condition. Results indicate that CBT participants evidenced significantly greater improvements in quality of life and reductions in psychological symptoms. Mediation of treatment through cognitive and behavioral variables was not found despite the acceptable delivery of CBT by research therapists. These data suggest that treatment can be effective with a disadvantaged sample of older adults and extend efficacy findings to quality of life domains. Creating access to evidence-based treatments through nontraditional delivery is an important continuing goal for geriatric health care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Partner support as a mediator of intervention outcome

Following up on previous work demonstrating that an intervention with at-risk mothers made a positive impact on the quality of mothers' partner support, responsiveness to the needs of the child, the child's expectation of being cared for, and child's response to a brief separation, the present paper examines whether quality of the mother's partner support mediated the impact of the intervention on these outcomes.     

Self-regulation as a mediator between sibling relationship quality and early adolescents' positive and negative outcomes.

The current study examined the role of adolescents' self-regulation as a mediator between sibling relationship quality and adolescent outcomes, after controlling for the quality of the parent-child relationship. Participants were 395 families (282 two parent; 113 single parent) with an adolescent child (M age of child at Time 1 = 11.15, SD = .96, 49% female) who took part in [project name masked for blind review] at both Time 1 and Time 2. Path analysis via structural equation modeling suggested that sibling affection was longitudinally and positively related to self-regulation and prosocial behaviors, and negatively related to externalizing behaviors; while sibling hostility was positively, and having a sister was negatively related to internalizing behaviors (in general, paths were stronger for adolescents from two- vs. single-parent families). There was also evidence that adolescents' self-regulation partially mediated the relation between sibling affection and positive and negative adolescent outcomes. The discussion focuses on the importance of continued research examining the mechanisms through which the sibling relationship influences development during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychache as a mediator in the relationship between perfectionism and suicidality.

E. S. Shneidman (1993) has proposed that psychache (i.e., unbearable psychological pain) is directly associated with suicide and mediates the effects of all other relevant psychological factors. The present research tested this proposition by examining whether psychache mediates the relationship between perfectionism and suicidality. Furthermore, the link between perfectionism and psychache was examined for mediation by unfulfilled psychological needs. Participants were 264 undergraduate students. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapped estimates determined that psychache fully mediated the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and suicidality. Additionally, the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and psychache was partially mediated by unfulfilled psychological needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical status as a moderator of depressive symptoms among older adults with dual sensory loss.

Objective: This study evaluated the ability of three measures of physical status—physical activity, physical condition, and body mass index (BMI)—to moderate the relationship between dual sensory loss (DSL) and depressive symptoms in older adults. Method: Nationally representative longitudinal data were used to develop multilevel models predicting depressive symptoms among two groups of older adults, 1380 who developed DSL during the study and 1308 without sensory loss. Results: All three measures were associated with depressive symptoms for persons who had or would develop a DSL: participation in physical activity and being in better physical condition were associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, while lower BMI levels were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. All moderator variables had a larger effect for persons with DSL as compared to persons without sensory loss. Implications: The implication of these findings is that participation in a regular program of physical activity may provide multiple benefits to older persons with DSL. Families and health care providers can offer support for being physically active by ensuring the person has the best possible correction for the sensory losses, providing encouragement, and/or providing physical assistance with exercise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of life stress and chronic insomnia in older adults.

This study compared the level of self-reported stress of 42 older good sleepers (M age?=?68.2 years) and 42 poor sleepers (M age?=?68.7 years). The relations among subjective ratings of sleep, level of perceived stress, and negative mood were analyzed for each group. Good and poor sleepers reported similar amounts of life stress, but the relations between life stress and sleep perceptions differed for the 2 groups. Specifically, within the group of poor sleepers, those with higher life stress had greater difficulty falling asleep and less early morning waking than did poor sleepers with lower life stress. There was no association between life stress and any sleep measures for good sleepers. These results are compatible with the notion that good and poor sleepers may have different susceptibilities to poor sleep despite experiencing similar stressful life events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pathways between physical activity and quality of life in adults with multiple sclerosis.

Objective: This prospective study examined symptoms of depression, fatigue, pain, self-efficacy, and social support as possible intermediaries in the pathway between changes in physical activity and quality of life (QOL) across a 6-month period in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Design and Main Outcome Measures: Adults with a definite diagnosis of MS wore an accelerometer for 7 days and then completed a battery of questionnaires at baseline (n = 292) and 6-months follow-up (n = 276). The data were analyzed using panel analysis and covariance modeling in Mplus 3.0. Results: The initial analysis indicated that change in physical activity was associated with a statistically significant and small residual change in QOL (β = .07). The subsequent analysis indicated that change in physical activity was associated with residual changes in fatigue (γ = ?.17), pain (γ = ?.13), social support (γ = .07), and self-efficacy (γ = .11), and, in turn, changes in fatigue (β = ?.13), pain (β = ?.09), social support (β = .18), and self-efficacy (β = .10) were associated with a residual change in QOL. Conclusion: The observed pattern of relationships supports the possibility that physical activity is indirectly associated with improved QOL through pathways that include fatigue, pain, social support, and self-efficacy in individuals with MS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The self as a mediator between personality and adjustment.

The self can be conceptualized as a mediating agent that translates personality into situated goal-directed activities and adaptation. This research used a level-of-analysis approach to link personality dimensions (Level 1) to self-systems (Level II) and to teacher ratings of adjustment in African American, Mexican American, and European American students (N?=?317). The authors hypothesized that links among aspects of self-esteem and teacher ratings of adjustment would be domain specific, and those links to dimensions of the 5-factor model would reflect the domain specificity. Structural equation modeling corroborated hypotheses about domain specificity in links between adjustment and 5-factor dimensions. Results were discussed in terms of levels of analysis for personality structure, personality development, and age-related adaptations to social contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social relations and depressive symptomatology in a sample of community-dwelling French older adults.

This study examined the association between social relations and mental health, specifically the relative contribution of social networks and social support to depressive symptomatology. The culturally unique representative sample consisted of 3,777 noninstitutionalized older persons living in southwestern France. The findings indicated that French older adults generally had more than 8 people in their networks, their networks consisted mostly of family members, and they felt understood by most of their network members. These older adults reported being satisfied with their social relations. Sociodemographic variables contribute (R–2?=?.143) to depressive symptomatology, as did social network (incremented R–2?=?.033) and social support (incremented R–2?=?.09) variables. Sociodemographic, social network, and social support variables together increased the variance explained still further (incremented R–2?=?.108). Results were consistent with similar analyses in the US and indicated that social support variables account for more variance in depressive symptomatology than social network variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological distress as a mediator of the relation between perceived maternal parenting and normative maladaptive eating among adolescent girls.

Burgeoning research on the adolescent (e.g., middle-school) years suggests that this is a particularly vulnerable period for the development of maladaptive eating patterns. Prior research has established a link between perceptions of maternal parenting practices and adolescent onset of problematic eating behaviors. The authors hypothesized that adolescents' internalized psychological distress accounts for this relation, and they tested this hypothesis via a longitudinal, mediational study of 73 adolescent girls followed from 6th to 8th grade. Results of structural equation modeling using latent variables supported the hypothesis, identifying a time-ordered process that emphasizes the significance of the mother-adolescent relationship and the importance of targeting counseling interventions at improving parenting practices and helping adolescents to regulate negative affect as a means of preventing the development of maladaptive eating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Purpose in life as a mediator of adjustment after spinal cord injury.

Objective: Determine how purpose in life influences adjustment after spinal cord injury (SCI). Study Design: Cross-sectional survey with mediation analysis. Subjects: 1,391 adults with traumatic SCI 1 or more years prior. Main Outcome Measure: Ladder of Adjustment (N. M. Crewe & J. S. Krause, 1990). The Purpose in Life scale (PIL: .J. C. Crumbaugh, 1968), the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (M. Zuckerman, D. M. Kuhlman, J. Joireman, P. Teta, & M. Kraft, 1993), and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scale (K. A. Wallston, B. S. Wallston, & R. DeVellis, 1978) were assessed. Results: PIL mediated between most measures and adjustment. Conclusions: Logotherapy is effective in strengthening purpose in life. Its use with persons with SCI may improve their adjustment and quality of life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support and the impact of job loss on older professionals.

Unemployment presents important psychological problems for all age groups, but the impact of job loss may be particularly severe for older workers. Participants in our study were 35 members of a self-help organization for unemployed professionals over the age of 40. Three types of variables were measured, (a) stressors, which were length of unemployment, financial concerns, and six functionally different types of social support; (b) stress symptoms, which were self-esteem, depression, physical health symptoms, psychological symptoms, and locus of control; and (c) job seeking behaviors. Our results indicated that financial concerns and social support stressors significantly predicted a number of the stress symptoms. Specific types of social support exhibited varied patterns of relations to these stress symptoms. The perceived availability of "reassurance of worth" support, provided in other contexts frequently by work colleagues, seemed to be most strongly related to positive self-esteem, internal locus of control, and more job-seeking efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)