Moderating effect of social support on the stress–burnout relationship.

Assessed the extent of life and work stresses, the availability of social support, and experience of burnout through a self-report questionnaire administered to 357 female (mean age 32 yrs) and 273 male (mean age 39 yrs) Israeli managers and human service professionals. Analysis showed that female Ss experienced more burnout and stress in life than did male Ss; no difference was found between the sexes for stress in work. Burnout was positively correlated with stress and negatively correlated with social support in both life and work. Further analysis revealed different patterns of moderating effects of social support on the relationship between stress and burnout for males and females: The relationship between work stress and burnout was moderated by support in life for females and by support in work for males. It is concluded that special attention should be paid to cultural, occupational, and sex differences in social support research and the exploration of its buffering effect. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Residential density and psychological health: The mediating effects of social support.

People report excessive, unwanted social interactions, insufficient privacy, and are observed to be more socially withdrawn under crowded living conditions. If people socially withdraw from one another as a way to cope with crowding, this could lead to an unintended side effect of breakdowns in socially supportive relationships. A breakdown in socially supportive relationships could, in turn, account for some of the pathological consequences of chronic, high density living conditions. An empirical study of 175 male heads of household among inner city residents in India suggests that the adverse effects of residential crowding on psychological health are mediated by a breakdown of social support systems. The study also points to the value of examining social support as an endogenous variable in the stress and health process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intergenerational continuity in parenting quality: The mediating role of social competence.

Prospective studies of intergenerational continuity in parenting quality remain scarce, with little attention given to the potential role of social competence as a mediator of continuity. This study examined social competence as a mediator in the pathway from 1st generation (G1) to 2nd generation (G2) parenting quality. A normative sample of children and their parents were assessed in childhood, and again 10 and 20 years later. Parenting quality of G1 parents was assessed at each time point with multiple informants, as was G2 social competence. G2 parenting was assessed at the 20-year follow-up for those who were parents. The mediational role of social competence in G1 to G2 parenting quality was tested via nested path analytic models, accounting for continuity and cross-domain relations. Social competence mediated the intergenerational relation of parenting quality; results were invariant across gender and ethnic minority status and were unchanged after controlling for age, IQ, socioeconomic status, rule-abiding conduct, and personality (i.e., constraint). The authors discuss results regarding developmental theories of close relationships and the potential for cascading benefits within and across generations from interventions to improve G1 parenting or G2 social competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Objective versus subjective measurement of stress and social support: Combat-related reactions.

Combat intensity, social support, and related stress reactions were studied among two subject groups: 382 soldiers who experienced combat stress reaction (CSR) during the 1982 Israeli-Lebanon War and a matched control group of 334 soldiers who participated in the same military units but who did not experience CSR. Both objective and subjective indicators of stress and social support were predictive of CSR. Subjective indicators, however, were stronger predictors than objective indicators. Soldiers who later developed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were more likely to have had CSR, to perceive themselves as having been in more intensive combat, and to have perceived themselves as receiving less social support than soldiers who did not develop PTSD. The CSR was clearly the best predictor of PTSD. The effect of the objective versus the subjective experience of stress and social support is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived racism and vascular reactivity in black college women: Moderating effects of seeking social support.

This quasi-experimental study explored the association of perceived racism and seeking social support to vascular reactivity in a college sample of 110 Black women. Perceived racism and seeking social support were assessed via self-report, and vascular reactivity was measured before and during a standardized speaking task. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that perceived racism was positively related to changes in systolic blood pressure. These analyses also indicated that seeking social support moderated the relationship between perceived racism and systolic blood pressure changes. This interaction effect persisted after controlling for several potential confounders. Follow-up regression analyses showed that perceived racism was positively associated with reactivity among participants who were low in seeking social support. A significant relationship was not observed between perceived racism and systolic blood pressure changes among participants who were high in seeking social support. Perceived racism and seeking social support were not significantly associated with changes in diastolic blood pressure. These findings highlight the importance of examining psychosocial factors that may mitigate the hypothesized relationship between perceived racism and reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prospective test of the negative affect model of substance abuse: Moderating effects of social support.

The authors tested whether dimensions of negative affect--specifically, trait levels of negative emotionality and state levels of depressive symptoms--increased risk for substance abuse onset and whether perceived social support moderated this relation using data from a 5-year prospective study of 496 school-recruited adolescent girls. Initial negative emotionality, but not depressive symptoms, and deficits in parental, but not peer, support predicted future substance abuse onset in a multivariate hazard model. Tests of the interaction between negative affect dimensions and social support suggested that support did not moderate the relation of negative affect to risk for substance abuse onset. Results provide prospective support for the etiological role in the onset of substance abuse of trait-linked negative affect and of parental support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hardiness and social support as moderators of the effects of life stress.

Examined the relation of social support and the hardy personality, which have been identified in previous studies as variables that reduce the effects of life stress on physical or psychological disturbance, and the relative importance of each in reducing the effects of life stress. 83 female undergraduates completed the Life Experiences Survey, the Levenson Locus of Control Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and self-report measures of social support and hardiness. The commitment and challenge dimensions of hardiness were found to be significantly correlated with social support, whereas the control dimension was not. When the interactions among life stress, social support, and hardiness were considered, only alienation from self moderated the effects of life stress. The possibility is proposed that studies that found social support to be a moderator of life stress may have indirectly measured hardiness. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Matching smokers to treatment: Self-control versus social support.

This study involved 137 participants who were assessed on 12 relevant predictor variables and then randomly assigned to social support or self-control treatment. Outcome across treatments was predicted by cotinine levels, treatment history, previous abstinence, happiness, self-efficacy, and perceived social support for quitting. Social support treatment was more effective than self-control treatment for participants with high baseline self-control orientation scores and participants with high self-efficacy scores. All other hypothesized Subject?×?Treatment interaction effects were nonsignificant. The study provided an example of a coherent approach to matching research and demonstrated the difficulty involved in providing treatments that are different enough from each other to benefit different smokers. Matching research has important theoretical value but may have limited potential for improving smoking treatment effectiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The enigma of social support and occupational stress: Source congruence and gender role effects.

Research on the potential ameliorating effects of social support on occupational stress produces weak, inconsistent, and even contradictory results. This study of 117 employees, mostly from a southern U.S. hospital supply company, examined potential moderators that were theorized might reduce the confusion: source congruence (congruence between sources of the stressor and of social support) and gender role. Congruence between the sources of stressors and of social support appeared to make little difference in determining the moderating or buffering effect of social support on the relationship between stressors and strain. Gender role, however, may moderate the relationship between social support and individual strains such that more feminine people react more strongly and positively to social support than more masculine people do. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control and social support: Interactive moderators of stress.

Results of 3 experiments with 211 undergraduates corroborated I. N. Sandler and B. Lakey's (see record 1982-30415-001) findings that persons with an internal locus of control derive greater benefits from social support than do those who have a more external orientation. It was also found that the moderating effect of social supports largely occurred among Ss who were less affiliative and more autonomous. It is concluded that social supports are most beneficial to those who are more instrumental and sparing in their approach to social interactions. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Occupational stress and failures of social support: When helping hurts.

Research, theory, and practice generally assume that contact with others, often characterized as social support, is beneficial to the recipient. The current study, however, explores the possibility that workplace social interactions, even if intended to be helpful, can sometimes be harmful. University employees (N = 403) completed an online survey examining three types of potentially supportive interactions with other people in the workplace that might be harmful: Interactions that make the person focus on how stressful the workplace is, help that makes the recipient feel inadequate or incompetent, and help that is unwanted. Results suggest that these types of social interactions at work were indeed likely to be related to worse rather than to improved psychological and physical health. The most potentially harmful forms of these three social interactions were those that drew the person’s attention to stress in the workplace. These results indicate that in some instances social interactions, even if ostensibly helpful, may be harmful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of loneliness and social support in adjustment to loss: A test of attachment versus stress theory.

A longitudinal study of a matched sample of 60 recently widowed and 60 married men and women tested predictions from stress and attachment theory regarding the role of social support in adjustment to bereavement. Stress theory predicts a buffering effect, attributing the impact of bereavement on well-being to stressful deficits caused by the loss and assuming that these deficits can be compensated through social support. In contrast, attachment theory denies that supportive friends can compensate the loss of an attachment figure and predicts main effects of marital status and social support. Attachment theory further suggests that marital status and social support influence well-being by different pathways, with the impact of marital status mediated by emotional loneliness and the impact of social support mediated by social loneliness. Results clearly supported attachment theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 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)     

Occupational stress, social support, and depression.

Developed a model of occupational stress, social support, locus of control, and depression among family physicians. 210 family physicians (average age 48 yrs) were administered measures of occupational stress, social support, locus of control, and depression. The hypothesized model was evaluated using structural equation models (LISREL). Results indicate that occupational stress exerted a direct effect on depression. This relationship was moderated directly by family social and emotional support and indirectly by the influence of locus of control on family social support. Support from peers was not significantly related to depression. Findings suggest that individuals with a strong sense of personal control also possess beneficial support systems in the presence of stressful situations. (58 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mediating role of parenting stress in the relation between intimate partner violence and child adjustment.

This study examined the role of maternal parenting stress in the relation between intimate partner violence (IPV) and children's emotional and behavioral problems among 139 African American children between the ages of 8 and 12 years. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate a mediational model examining maternal reports of IPV and parenting stress and both mother and child reports of child adjustment. Results suggest that parenting stress helps explain the link between IPV and child emotional and behavioral problems. Findings from this study highlight the importance of parenting stress in outcomes of children from low-income African American families who experience IPV. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School climate support for behavioral and psychological adjustment: Testing the mediating effect of social competence.

The present study used an ecological framework to examine the relationships among adolescents’ perceptions of school climate, social competence, and behavioral and psychological adjustment in the middle school years. This study improved upon prior studies by using structural equation modeling to investigate the hypothesized mediating effect of social competence and to account for measurement error. The sample included 1,042 participating students from 23 middle schools. Results showed that school mastery goal structure, promotion of autonomy and discussion, and teacher emotional support were negatively related to the levels of adolescents’ deviant behaviors and depression, while performance goal structure was positively related to deviant behaviors and depression. Social competence was a mediator between perceived school climate variables and adolescent adjustment, with the exception of the relationship between mastery goal structure and adjustment variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of social support visibility on adjustment to stress: Experimental evidence.

Previous fieldwork has suggested that visible social support can entail an emotional cost and that a supportive act is most effective when it is accomplished either (a) outside of recipients' awareness or (b) within their awareness but with sufficient subtlety that they do not interpret it as support. To investigate the latter phenomenon, the authors conducted 3 experiments in which female participants were led to expect a stressful speech task and a confederate peer provided support in such a way that it was either visible or invisible (N=257). Invisible support (practical and emotional) reduced emotional reactivity relative to visible and no support. Visible support was either ineffective or it exacerbated reactivity. Explanatory analyses indicated that support was effective when it avoided communicating a sense of inefficacy to recipients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The work-family interface and job performance: Moderating effects of conscientiousness and perceived organizational support.

Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, the authors hypothesized that two aspects of the work-family interface--family-to-work conflict (FWC) and family-to-work enrichment (FWE)--are related to job performance. The authors also hypothesized that two variables moderate those relationships--individual differences in conscientiousness and aspects of the work environment in terms of perceived organizational support (POS). Data collected from a matched set of 136 private sector workers and their respective supervisors revealed that high FWC was more strongly related to lower job performance: (1) among high- than low-conscientiousness workers and (2) among workers reporting low rather than high levels of organizational support. However, FWE was unrelated to job performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of kinship social support on the parenting experiences and psychosocial adjustment of African-American adolescents.

The association of kinship support with psychosocial adjustment and parenting practices for 125 African-American adolescents (52 boys and 73 girls) in Grades 9–12 from single- and 2-parent households was assessed. Findings reveal that kinship support was positively associated with adolescent adjustment and with authoritative parenting practices in single- but not 2-parent households. Results also indicate that parenting practices mediated the effects of kinship support. When the effects of authoritative parenting practices were controlled, significant relations found between kinship support and adolescent adjustment were no longer apparent. The importance of kinship support for the functioning of African-American families and adolescents was discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Realpolitik versus fair process: Moderating effects of group identification on acceptance of political decisions.

Three studies examined the effects of perceived procedural justice and the favorability of a group-level outcome on the endorsement of a group-level decision and the evaluation of the authority responsible for the decision. Results showed that, contrary to findings usually seen with individual-level decisions, collective outcome favorability was more important than procedural justice in influencing the endorsement of the decision. Furthermore, increased identification with the group reduced the importance of procedural justice but accentuated the importance of collective outcome favorability. With regard to the evaluation of the authority, the results were similar to those obtained in individual-level decisions: Procedural fairness mattered more than collective outcome favorability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)