scholarly journals Religious Communities and Human Flourishing

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 476-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler J. VanderWeele
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Private Practices ◽  
The Social ◽  
Study Designs ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Participation in religious services is associated with numerous aspects of human flourishing, including happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close social relationships. Evidence for the effects of religious communities on these flourishing outcomes now comes from rigorous longitudinal study designs with extensive confounding control. The associations with flourishing are much stronger for communal religious participation than for spiritual-religious identity or for private practices. While the social support is an important mechanism relating religion to health, this only explains a small portion of the associations. Numerous other mechanisms appear to be operative as well. It may be the confluence of the religious values and practices, reinforced by social ties and norms, that give religious communities their powerful effects on so many aspects of human flourishing.

scholarly journals On the promotion of human flourishing

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (31) ◽  
pp. 8148-8156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler J. VanderWeele
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mental And Physical Health ◽  
Specific Disease State

Many empirical studies throughout the social and biomedical sciences focus only on very narrow outcomes such as income, or a single specific disease state, or a measure of positive affect. Human well-being or flourishing, however, consists in a much broader range of states and outcomes, certainly including mental and physical health, but also encompassing happiness and life satisfaction, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close social relationships. The empirical literature from longitudinal, experimental, and quasiexperimental studies is reviewed in attempt to identify major determinants of human flourishing, broadly conceived. Measures of human flourishing are proposed. Discussion is given to the implications of a broader conception of human flourishing, and of the research reviewed, for policy, and for future research in the biomedical and social sciences.

How Relationship Satisfaction Influences Post-Pandemic COVID-19 Anxiety: A Four-Wave Study in China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyi Ou ◽  
yunhanqi ◽  
Ke Zhang ◽  
Yuexiao Du ◽  
Yihang He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Perceived Social Support ◽  
The Social

The social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic exerts lasing impacts on people’s mental health. However, whether and how people’s pre-existing positive social relationships can serve as stable reserves to alleviate people psychological distress following the disaster remains unknown. To address the question, the current study examined whether pre-pandemic relationship satisfaction would predict post-pandemic COVID-19 anxiety through middle-pandemic perceived social support and/or gratitude using four-wave data in China (N = 222, 54.50% female, Mage = 31.53, SD = 8.17). Results showed that people’s COVID-19 anxiety decreased from the peak to the trough pandemic stage; perceived social support increased markedly from the pre-pandemic to the peak and remained stable afterwards, while relationship satisfaction remained unchanged throughout. Further, it was middle-pandemic perceived social support, but not gratitude, mediated the association between pre-pandemic relationship satisfaction and post-pandemic COVID-19 anxiety, indicating perceived social support played a more crucial role than gratitude in this process. Last, it is suggested to distinguish perceived social support from gratitude as two different components of social interactions.

scholarly journals Association between social support and quality of life of relative caregivers of elderly dependents

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1321-1330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla Ferraz dos Anjos ◽  
Rita Narriman Silva de Oliveira Boery ◽  
Rafael Pereira ◽  
Larissa Chaves Pedreira ◽  
Alba Benemérita Alves Vilela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Family Health ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Relative Caregivers ◽  
The Social

Objective: to ascertain the association between the social support and the quality of life of relative caregivers of elderly dependents at home.Method: a cross-sectional study conducted with 58 relative caregivers of elderly dependents, registered in the Family Health Strategy. Data were collected from the Katz instrument, sociodemographic, Zarit Burden Interview, WHOQOL-bref, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression.Results: the majority of caregivers were women, who took care full-time and presented moderate to severe burden. Most caregivers are satisfied with their social relationships and the social support received. It is found that the burden and the time of care correlated with the social relationships domain, which is associated with social support, and consequently, reduced quality of life.Conclusion: social support for caregivers is important to prevent health implications, burden, biopsychosocial stress, and provide favorable conditions for quality of life, by allowing greater freedom to develop their daily activities.

scholarly journals Evaluating the relationships among religion, social virtues, and meaning in life

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neal Krause ◽  
Peter C Hill ◽  
Gail Ironson
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Nationwide Survey ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Spiritual Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Forgiveness Of Others

There is growing evidence that a sense of meaning in life may emerge, in part, from the social relationships that people maintain. But it is not clear how the relationship between social ties and a sense of meaning might arise. The purpose of this study is to see if meaning in life is associated with three socially focused virtues: compassion, forgiveness of others, and providing social support to others. In the process, an effort is made to see if these social virtues arise from social relationships in religious institutions. Two main findings emerge from a recent nationwide survey. First, people who are more compassionate, more forgiving, and who help others more often have a stronger sense of meaning in life. Second, individuals who receive more spiritual support from fellow church members are more likely to adopt these social virtues. The theoretical basis of these relationships is discussed.

How are Social Ties Protective?

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley E. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Adverse Conditions ◽  
Family Social Support ◽  
The Family ◽  
Physiological Benefits ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Abstract Social ties are the most important resource human beings have. Although other people can be difficult and challenging, they can also provide protection, solace, and social support, among other benefits. However, some relationships can be toxic and because these adverse conditions can be physiologically taxing, they can negatively affect both mental and physical health. Changes such as these can operate in large part through alterations in the sympathetic nervous system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system, and the immune system. Much of the benefit of social support is perceptual and stems from the comfort of believing that supportive others can or will be there when times are stressful. The abilities to gain and perceive social support begin early in life and are heavily influenced by the climate of the family. Social support depends, in part, on reciprocity, yet many challenges to receiving support exist. Giving support to others has its own psychological and physiological benefits, although at intense levels, such as demanding caregiving responsibilities, these benefits dwindle. Moreover, social support needs change over time with changing circumstances. Public policy efforts to help people build and capitalize on their potential support networks is essential to maximize the impact of social ties on mental and physical health.

scholarly journals How Could Peers in Online Health Community Help Improve Health Behavior

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 2995
Author(s):  
Yumei Li ◽  
Xiangbin Yan
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Health Behavior ◽  
Social Integration ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Support Group ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Informational Support ◽  
Mutual Support ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
The Social

Human behavior is the largest source of variance in health-related outcomes, and the increasingly popular online health communities (OHC) can be used to promote healthy behavior and outcomes. We explored how the social influence (social integration, descriptive norms and social support) exerted by online social relationships does affect the health behavior of users. Based on an OHC, we considered the effect of three types of social relationships (friendship, mutual support group and competing group) in the OHC. We found that social integration, descriptive norms and social support (information and emotional support) from the OHC had a positive effect on dietary and exercise behavior. Comparing the effects of different social relationships, we found that the stronger social relationship—friendship—had a stronger effect on health behavior than the mutual support group and competing group. Emotional support had a stronger effect on health behavior than informational support. We also found that the effects of social integration and informational support became stronger as membership duration increased, but the effects of the descriptive norms and emotional support became smaller. This study extended the research on health behavior to the online social environment and explored how the social influence exerted by various social relationships in an OHC affected health behavior. The results could be used for guiding users to make use of online social relationships for changing and maintaining healthy behavior, and helping healthcare websites improve their services.

Reweaving the Social Fabric: Antecedents of Social Support Facilitation

1982 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Pilisuk ◽  
Susan Chandler ◽  
Carole D'Onofrio
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Health Education ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Support Group ◽  
Community Health Education ◽  
Supportive Relationships ◽  
Social Fabric ◽  
Professional Discipline ◽  
The Social

Contemporary society leaves many individuals without a continuing support group. Continued integration into a network of supportive social relationships is demonstrably related to the prevention of breakdown in health in the widest variety of mental and physical forms. Yet the task of assuring continuity of supportive relationships has not been central to any professional discipline. The facilitation of social support is likely to become more central to community health education. To address this issue we examine seven different forms of intervention which address the problem of augmenting supportive relationships. The goal is to extract the essence of the professional role in the provision of social support and to suggest its relevance to community health education.

The Social Relationships and Social Support of Aging Mothers Whose Adult Daughters Are Mentally Ill

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-140
Author(s):  
Jean E. Balestrery ◽  
Letha A. Chadiha ◽  
Ruth E. Dunkle ◽  
Berit Ingersoll-Dayton
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Adult Daughters ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals Prognostic significance of social network, social support and loneliness for course of major depressive disorder in adulthood and old age

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. S. van den Brink ◽  
N. Schutter ◽  
D. J. C. Hanssen ◽  
B. M. Elzinga ◽  
I. M. Rabeling-Keus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Relapse Prevention ◽  
Depression Severity ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Predictive Values ◽  
The Social

Aims.Poor recovery from depressive disorder has been shown to be related to low perceived social support and loneliness, but not to social network size or frequency of social interactions. Some studies suggest that the significance of social relationships for depression course may be greater in younger than in older patients, and may differ between men and women. None of the studies examined to what extent the different aspects of social relationships have unique or overlapping predictive values for depression course. It is the aim of the present study to examine the differential predictive values of social network characteristics, social support and loneliness for the course of depressive disorder, and to test whether these predictive associations are modified by gender or age.Methods.Two naturalistic cohort studies with the same design and overlapping instruments were combined to obtain a study sample of 1474 patients with a major depressive disorder, of whom 1181 (80.1%) could be studied over a 2-year period. Social relational variables were assessed at baseline. Two aspects of depression course were studied: remission at 2-year follow-up and change in depression severity over the follow-up period. By means of logistic regression and random coefficient analysis, the individual and combined predictive values of the different social relational variables for depression course were studied, controlling for potential confounders and checking for effect modification by age (below 60 v. 60 years or older) and gender.Results.Multiple aspects of the social network, social support and loneliness were related to depression course, independent of potential confounders – including depression severity – but when combined, their predictive values were found to overlap to a large extent. Only the social network characteristic of living in a larger household, the social support characteristic of few negative experiences with the support from a partner or close friend, and limited feelings of loneliness proved to have unique predictive value for a favourable course of depression. Little evidence was found for effect modification by gender or age.Conclusions.If depressed persons experience difficulties in their social relationships, this may impede their recovery. Special attention for interpersonal problems, social isolation and feelings of loneliness seems warranted in depression treatment and relapse prevention. It will be of great interest to test whether social relational interventions can contribute to better recovery and relapse prevention of depressive disorder.

Community work practices against children poverty in Southern Italy. Exploring experiences and perspectives in local welfare

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuela Chiodo
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Educational Practices ◽  
The South ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
The Social

PurposeThis paper has a dual purpose: on one side, it analyzes what types of solidarity and social relations are implemented as social support resources applied to actions aiming at the empowerment of children living in poverty. On the other, it investigates on the role of the community in the governance of local welfare practices and its ability to produce social innovations for municipal policies in favor of children and adolescents.Design/methodology/approachProximity, flexibility, generativity and territoriality are just some of the features that – in the framework of the scientific debate – characterize the social work in areas of social disadvantage. In the framework of the debate, this paper presents a qualitative research on the social ties and educational practices promoted and implemented by nonprofit organizations that attempt to counteract educational poverty and social exclusion of children and adolescents in the eastern peripheral neighborhoods of Naples, one of the poorest cities in the South of Italy.FindingsThe results of the analysis reveal a capacitating and generative role of the actions applied to social and educational practices for children and adolescents and their families in poor neighborhoods and peripheral areas; a role that is, however, also useful for community social policies targeting children and adolescents. Among local welfare policies enhancing community resources, such practices have indeed become an active resource of subsidiarity; they also ensure wider rights and empowerment for children and adolescents who live in poor communities and for their families as well.Originality/valueMore recent studies focusing on the role of social ties in deprived context and impoverishment processes, demonstrated that nonprofit organizations operate as crucial actors fostering inclusion and social cohesion, by means of “elective participation”; this guarantees access to protection and recognition resources that are an integral part of the social support these organizations provide in their areas of intervention. Despite the wide debate on the key role of the Third Sector in territorial welfare policies, further empirical studies on the role of these organizations in poor neighborhoods of the cities of the south of Italy are necessary. The value of this article is an attempt to provide to bridge this gap.

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