scholarly journals Associations between loneliness and perceived social support and outcomes of mental health problems: a systematic review

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyi Wang ◽  
Farhana Mann ◽  
Brynmor Lloyd-Evans ◽  
Ruimin Ma ◽  
Sonia Johnson
Author(s):  
Sadia Saleem ◽  
Namra S. Qureshi ◽  
Zahid Mahmood

Background: Infertility is one of the fastest growing concerns when it comes to reproductive health and most often, women get the blame. Consequently, females suffer from major psycho-social and emotional problems that may lead to serious mental health concerns.Methods: To fill the gap in literature, a cross-sectional research design was used to measure the attachment styles with spouse, perceived social support, and predict mental health problems in women attending infertility clinics with ages ranging from 19-45 (M 27.21, SD 4.79). Adult Attachment Questionnaire, Multidimensional Perceived Social Support, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale were used among experimental subjects selected through purposive sampling technique.Results: About 32% women reported themselves as secure, 49% as ambivalent, and 19% as avoidant in their attachment style with spouse. The results revealed that a significant negative correlation exists between perceived social support and mental health problems among women with infertility. Moreover, women who identify their attachment pattern as Ambivalent perceive less social support and experience more mental health problems.Conclusions: Education is one of the strongest predictors of how likely infertility is to cause mental health issues while Attachment style is another strong indicator since infertile women with secure attachment pattern have fewer mental health problems. However, the sample size was modest to make any wide-scale assumptions, so further trials with larger participant pools must be performed. Additionally, future studies should include both rural and urban samples with different psychological variables to find the similarities and differences between various groups of people with diverse backgrounds.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Muhammad Rafiq ◽  
Saba Safdar

Background: Pre-operative patients are not only suffering from physical and physiological symptoms but they might have psychological issues which may lead to mental health issues. However, different psychosocial factors may help in managing the mental health problems in pre-operative patients. Purpose: This study was aimed to investigate the mediating role of perceived social support on mental health problems in pre-operative patients. Methodology: The sample of the study consisted of 180 participants who were going to get their major surgery done in a week including 51% men and 49% women between the ages of 18-35 years. The participants were presented with a questionnaire including a demographics sheet and three Urdu translated scales as Self -Compassion Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. Results: The results indicated that there was a significant negative correlation between self-compassion/perceived social support and mental health problems in pre-operative patients. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation indicated a significant relationship among self-compassion, perceived social support, and mental health problems. Conclusion: The current study spotlighted the importance of the pre-operative time in young adults and the dire need for counseling services to be provided to the patients in this crucial time to enhance the chances of post-operative recovery and wellbeing of the patients. Key words: Self-compassion, Perceive Social Support, Mental Health problems, Pre-operative patients, Major Surgery, young adulthood Citation: Safdar S, Rafiq M. Mediating role of perceived social support on mental health problems in pre-operative patients. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2021;25(1):63–70; DOI: 10.35975/apic.v25i1.1442 Received: 2 December 2020, Reviewed: 1 January 2021, Accepted: 2 January 2021


2020 ◽  
pp. 002076402094535
Author(s):  
Rahşan Duren ◽  
Özgen Yalçın

Background: Social capital is one of the prominent components of refugee mental health. However, its role on mental health is poorly understood. Aims: The aim of the present study was to investigate the nature of the association between social capital and mental health problems in refugee adolescents. Method: A cross-sectional study with three hundred twenty-one 12- to 18-year-old Syrian refugee adolescents was conducted in Turkey. We administered the Arabic versions of the following instruments in school settings: The Social Trust, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), The Children’s Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-8) and The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: The mediation analyses with Hayes’ PROCESS Macro revealed that perceived social support and the intensity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms fully mediated the relationship between social capital and mental health problems. Conclusion: The results suggested social trust’s two distinct functions which impair the likelihood of mental health problems: (a) social trust might help to facilitate perceived social support from family and friends and (b) social trust might impair the intensity of traumatic experiences.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Spry ◽  
Margarita Moreno-Betancur ◽  
Melissa Middleton ◽  
Louise M. Howard ◽  
Stephanie J. Brown ◽  
...  

Postnatal depression (PND) is common and predicts a range of adverse maternal and offspring outcomes. PND rates are highest among women with persistent mental health problems before pregnancy, and antenatal healthcare provides ideal opportunity to intervene. We examined antenatal perceived social support as a potential intervention target in preventing PND symptoms among women with prior mental health problems. A total of 398 Australian women (600 pregnancies) were assessed repeatedly for mental health problems before pregnancy (ages 14–29 years, 1992–2006), and again during pregnancy, two months postpartum and one year postpartum (2006–2014). Causal mediation analysis found that intervention on perceived antenatal social support has the potential to reduce rates of PND symptoms by up to 3% (from 15 to 12%) in women with persistent preconception symptoms. Supplementary analyses found that the role of low antenatal social support was independent of concurrent antenatal depressive symptoms. Combined, these two factors mediated up to more than half of the association between preconception mental health problems and PND symptoms. Trialling dual interventions on antenatal depressive symptoms and perceived social support represents one promising strategy to prevent PND in women with persistent preconception symptoms. Interventions promoting mental health before pregnancy may yield an even greater reduction in PND symptoms by disrupting a developmental cascade of risks via these and other pathways. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Multidisciplinary perspectives on social support and maternal–child health’.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asres Bedaso ◽  
Jon Adams ◽  
Wenbo Peng ◽  
David Sibbritt

Abstract Background Pregnancy is a time of profound physical and emotional change as well as an increased risk of mental illness. While strengthening social support is a common recommendation to reduce such mental health risk, no systematic review or meta-analysis has yet examined the relationship between social support and mental problems during pregnancy. Methods The PRISMA checklist was used as a guide to systematically review relevant peer-reviewed literature reporting primary data analyses. PubMed, Psych Info, MIDIRS, SCOPUS, and CINAHL database searches were conducted to retrieve research articles published between the years 2000 to 2019. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale tool was used for quality appraisal and the meta-analysis was conducted using STATA. The Q and the I2 statistics were used to evaluate heterogeneity. A random-effects model was used to pool estimates. Publication bias was assessed using a funnel plot and Egger’s regression test and adjusted using trim and Fill analysis. Result From the identified 3760 articles, 67 articles with 64,449 pregnant women were part of the current systematic review and meta-analysis. From the total 67 articles, 22 and 45 articles included in the narrative analysis and meta-analysis, respectively. From the total articles included in the narrative analysis, 20 articles reported a significant relationship between low social support and the risk of developing mental health problems (i.e. depression, anxiety, and self-harm) during pregnancy. After adjusting for publication bias, based on the results of the random-effect model, the pooled odds ratio (POR) of low social support was AOR: 1.18 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.41) for studies examining the relationship between low social support and antenatal depression and AOR: 1.97 (95% CI: 1.34, 2.92) for studies examining the relationship between low social support and antenatal anxiety. Conclusion Low social support shows significant associations with the risk of depression, anxiety, and self-harm during pregnancy. Policy-makers and those working on maternity care should consider the development of targeted social support programs with a view to helping reduce mental health problems amongst pregnant women.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Elizabeth Muller ◽  
Elisabet Vivianne Hafstad ◽  
Jan Peter William Himmels ◽  
Geir Smedslund ◽  
Signe Flottorp ◽  
...  

Background: The covid-19 pandemic has heavily burdened, and in some cases overwhelmed, healthcare systems throughout the world. Healthcare workers are not only at heightened risk of infection, but also of adverse mental health outcomes. Identification of organizational, collegial and individual risk and resilience factors impacting the mental health of healthcare workers are needed to inform preparedness planning and sustainable response. Methods: We performed a rapid systematic review to identify, assess and summarize available research on the mental health impact of the covid-19 pandemic on healthcare workers. On 11 May 2020, we utilized the Norwegian Institute of Public Health's Live map of covid-19 evidence, the visualization of a database of 20,738 screened studies, to identify studies for inclusion. We included studies reporting on any type of mental health outcome in any type of healthcare workers during the pandemic. We described interventions reported by the studies, and narratively summarized mental health-related outcomes, as study heterogeneity precluded meta-analysis. We assessed study quality using design-specific instruments. Results: We included 59 studies, reporting on a total of 54,707 healthcare workers. The prevalence of general psychological distress across the studies ranged from 7-97% (median 37%), anxiety 9-90% (median 24%), depression 5-51% (median 21%), and sleeping problems 34-65% (median 37%). Seven studies reported on implementing mental health interventions, and most focused on individual symptom reduction, but none reported on effects of the interventions. In most studies, healthcare workers reported low interest in and use of professional help, and greater reliance on social support and contact with family and friends. Exposure to covid-19 was the most commonly reported correlate of mental health problems, followed by female gender, and worry about infection or about infecting others. Social support correlated with less mental health problems. Discussion: Healthcare workers in a variety of fields, positions, and exposure risks are reporting anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and distress during the covid-19 pandemic, but most studies do not report comparative data on mental health symptoms. before the pandemic. There seems to be a mismatch between risk factors for adverse mental health outcomes among healthcare workers in the current pandemic and their needs and preferences, and the individual psychopathology focus of current interventions. Efforts to help healthcare workers sustain healthy relationships to colleagues, family and friends over time may be paramount to safeguard what is already an important source of support during the prolonged crisis. Expanding interventions' focus to incorporate organizational, collegial and family factors to support healthcare workers responding to the pandemic could improve acceptability and efficacy of interventions. Other: The protocol for this review is available online. No funding was received.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Spry ◽  
Margarita Moreno-Betancur ◽  
Louise Howard ◽  
Stephanie Brown ◽  
Christopher Greenwood ◽  
...  

Postnatal depression (PND) is common and predicts a range of adverse maternal and offspring outcomes. PND rates are highest amongst women with persistent mental health problems before pregnancy, and antenatal healthcare provides ideal opportunity to intervene. We examined antenatal perceived social support as a potential intervention target in preventing PND symptoms among women with prior mental health problems. A total of 398 Australian women (600 pregnancies) were assessed repeatedly for mental health problems before pregnancy (ages 14-29 years, 1992-2006), and again during pregnancy, 2 months postpartum, and 1 year postpartum (2006-2014). Causal mediation analysis found that intervention on perceived antenatal social support has the potential to reduce rates of PND symptoms by up to 3% (from 15% to 12%) in women with persistent preconception symptoms. Supplementary analyses found that the role of low antenatal social support was independent of concurrent antenatal depressive symptoms. Combined, these two factors mediated up to more than half of the association between preconception mental health problems and PND symptoms. Trialing dual interventions on antenatal depressive symptoms and perceived social support represents one promising strategy to prevent PND in women with persistent preconception symptoms. Interventions promoting mental health before parenthood may yield greater reduction in PND symptoms by disrupting a developmental cascade of risks via these and other pathways.


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