Stability in extraversion and aspects of social support at midlife

Fusion of sperm and egg plasma membranes is an early and essential event at fertilization but it is not known if it plays a part in the signal transduction mechanism that leads to the oscillations in the cytoplasmic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) that accompany mammalian egg activation. We have used two independent fluorescence methods and confocal microscopy to show that cytoplasmic continuity of egg and sperm precedes the onset of the first [Ca2+]i increase in mouse eggs. The Ca2+ indicator dye Ca2+-green dextran was microinjected and its transfer from egg to sperm was monitored. We found that it occurred before, and without a requirement for, any detectable [Ca2+]i increase in the egg. In separate experiments [Ca2+]i changes were recorded in populations of eggs, using fura red, and the eggs fixed at various times after some of the eggs had shown a [Ca2+]i transient. Fusion of the sperm and egg was then assessed by Hoechst dye transfer. All eggs that showed a [Ca2+]i increase had a fused sperm but more than half of the eggs contained a sperm but had not undergone a [Ca2+]i increase. These data indicate that sperm-egg fusion precedes [Ca2+]i changes and we estimate that the elapsed time between sperm-egg fusion and the onset of the [Ca2+li oscillations is 1-3 minutes. Finally, sperm-egg fusion was prevented by using low pH medium which reversibly prevented [Ca2+]i oscillations in eggs that had been inseminated. This was not due to disruption of signalling mechanisms, since [Ca2+]i changes still occurred if low pH was applied after the onset of oscillations at fertilization. [Ca2+]i changes also occurred in eggs in low pH in response to the muscarinic agonist carbachol. These data are consistent with the idea that the [Ca2+]i signals that occur in mammalian eggs at fertilization are initiated by events that are closely coupled to the fusion of the sperm and egg membranes.     

Experimentally provided social support.

Investigated the interactive effects of a supportive intervention in conjunction with performance on a problem-solving task (anagrams). 80 undergraduates differing in assessed social support were given experimentally provided support or were in a control condition. For measures of both performance and cognitive interference, significant interactions were obtained between assessed and experimentally provided social support. Findings are consistent with the idea that a low level of social support in a person's life is a vulnerability factor. However, they also suggest that it is possible to devise supportive interventions that facilitate task-relevant thinking and performance for those low in social support. (23 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)     

Correlates of social support receipt.

Psychological correlates of social support receipt were examined in an investigation of stress and coping among 150 middle-aged community residents. Subjects were interviewed monthly for 6 months, each time concerning a specific stressful situation in the previous month. Social support received and methods of coping were assessed each time, as well as other variables. Factors hypothesized to be associated with support receipt were person predispositions, appraisal patterns with regard to specific stressful encounters, and coping strategies used. Each was most strongly associated with a particular type of social support. Person predispositions related most strongly to emotional support received, appraisal factors related most strongly to aid, and coping strategies related most to informational support received. Furthermore, of the three sets of variables, the individual's ways of coping appeared to be most strongly associated with all types of social support received. Two implications are explored. First, we suggest that the three types of social support studied represent different constructs with different antecedents and consequences. Second, we argue that coping behavior provides interpersonal cues regarding what is wanted or needed in a stressful situation and that the members of the social environment respond accordingly. (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)     

Objective determinants of perceived social support.

Examined objective characteristics of people's social networks as determinants of the perceived availability of social support in 50 60–88 yr olds and in 71 18–35 yr old mothers of 1-yr-olds. Number of network members and frequency of contact with network members, computed separately for kin and nonkin were examined as predictors of loneliness (as measured by the UCLA Loneliness Scale), overall social support, and the 6 components of social support proposed by R. Weiss (1974). Kin were found to be more effective providers than nonkin of some aspects of social support. Network characteristics were better predictors of perceived social support for the elderly than for the mothers, but a maximum of 30% of the variance in perceived social support was attributable to the objective network characteristics in either sample. It is recommended that future research on the determinants of perceived social support consider actual interpersonal behaviors, their contexts, and personality characteristics that affect the facilitation and interpretation of supportive behaviors. (37 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)     

Are social supports in late midlife a cause or a result of successful physical ageing?

BACKGROUND: Many studies have noted a strong association between poor social support and premature mortality. A limitation of such studies has been their failure to control adequately for confounders that damage both social supports and physical health. METHODS: A 50-year prospective multivariate study of 223 men was used to examine the possible causal relationships between social supports and health. Alcohol abuse, prior physical health and mental illness prior to age 50 were controlled. Relative social supports were quantified over the period from age 50 to 70. RESULTS: Adequacy of social supports from age 50 to 70 was powerfully correlated with physical health at age 70 (P < 0.001). However, such social supports were also powerfully predicted by alcohol abuse (P < 0.001), smoking (P < 0.001) and indicators of major depressive disorder (P < 0.01) assessed at age 50. When prior smoking, depression and alcohol abuse were controlled, then the association of physical health with social supports was very much attenuated. Some facets of social support like religion and confidantes were unassociated with health even at a univariate level. Surprisingly, in this sample friends seemed more important for sustained physical health than closeness to spouse and to children. CONCLUSIONS: While social supports undoubtedly play a significant role in maintaining physical well-being in late life, much of the association between poor social supports and mortality may be mediated by alcoholism, smoking and pre-morbid psychopathology.     

Cognitive processes in perceived social support.

This article describes 2 studies testing hypotheses that perceived social support operates in part as a cognitive personality construct. Both studies found that perceived support manifested a pattern of correlations more similar to cognitive variables than did support received from the environment and that the relation between perceived support and psychological distress was reduced substantially when the cognitive personality variables were controlled statistically. Study 2 also tested hypotheses generated from schema theory that perceived support would be related to the interpretation and recall of novel supportive behaviors. As predicted, low-perceived-support students interpreted novel supportive behaviors more negatively than high-support students and remembered a lower proportion of behaviors perceived as helpful. (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)     

Assessment of methods for measuring social support.

Reviewed 23 instruments for assessing social support; evaluated their reliability, validity, and specificity; and simulated correlations between 4 instruments and 4 criterion measures. 13 instruments had acceptable validity data for this study, and major conceptual differences in the definition and measurement of social support were found. Results indicate that discriminant validity between the measures may be low and that similarities and differences must be assessed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Going beyond social support: The role of social relationships in adaptation.

Discusses new directions for explicating relations among stress, support, and adaptational outcomes. Attention is drawn to the distinctiveness of marriage as a source of stress and support in adult life. In addition, the literature on marital and family therapy points to the potentially deleterious effects of overinvolvement in close relationships. It is suggested that if research and theory on social support are to become relevant to clinical intervention, the current emphasis on the benefits of perceived social support needs to be balanced by consideration of the costs constraints of participating in social relationships and by a concern for how such perceptions arise. (83 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations of social goal pursuit to social acceptance, classroom behavior, and perceived social support.

Relations of social goal pursuit to (1) social acceptance by teachers and peers, (2) prosocial and irresponsible classroom behavior, and (3) perceived support from teachers and peers were examined. Ss were 475 6th and 7th graders. Students' pursuit of academic prosocial goals (to help classmates with academic problems) was related positively to peer acceptance. Pursuit of academic responsibility goals (adhering to classroom rules) was related negatively to peer acceptance but positively to teacher acceptance. These findings reflected in part, significant relations between social goal pursuit and displays of social behavior. Perceived support from teachers and peers was also related positively to social goal pursuit, although findings differed as a function of type and source of support. (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.     

Companion animals: social support for orthopedic clients

Various definitions, conceptualizations, and measurements of social support exist in literature. Consistently among these variations, the focus is on people. Companion animals are not included; however, reviews of both social support literature and human-animal bond literature shows that the two share a number of common functions. Using two case studies, the author demonstrates that the social support of companion animals is a legitimate and relevant source of support for persons with orthopedic disorders.     

Incorporating social support into a community-wide smoking-cessation contest

Exposure to foreign particles sometimes causes inflammatory reactions through production of cytokines and chemoattractants by phagocytic cells. In this study, we focused on macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) to evaluate its pathophysiological role in the phagocytic process. Immunohistochemical analysis of human pseudosynovial tissues retrieved at revision of total hip arthroplasty showed that infiltrating mononuclear and multinuclear cells were positively stained by both an anti-CD68 antibody and anti-human MIF antibody. For in vitro study, MIF was released from murine macrophage-like cells (RAW 264.7) in response to phagocytosis of fluorescent-latex beads in a particle dose-dependent manner. Northern blot analysis showed marked elevation of the MIF mRNA level in the phagocytic macrophage-like cells. Moreover, pretreatment of RAW 264.7 cells with rat recombinant MIF increased the extent of phagocytosis by 1.6-fold compared with the control. Taken together, these results suggest that MIF plays an important role by activating macrophages in autocrine and paracrine fashion to phagocytose foreign particles.