The Impact of Social Support on Loneliness among Mothers of Children With Disability

BACKGROUND It is necessary to cope with situations in daily life to prevent stress-related health consequences. However, coping strategies might differ in their impact on dealing with stressful situations in daily life. Moreover, the effect of coping strategies on situational coping might differ between women and men. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of coping strategies on situational coping in everyday life situations and to investigate gender differences. METHODS An ecological momentary assessment study with the mobile health app TrackYourStress (TYS) was conducted with 113 participants. Coping strategies were measured at baseline with the coping scales Positive Thinking, Active Stress Coping, Social Support, Support in Faith, and Alcohol and Cigarette Consumption of the Stress and Coping Inventory (SCI). Situational coping was assessed by the question “How well can you cope with your momentary stress-level” (slider 0-100) in daily life over four weeks. Multilevel models were conducted to test the effects of the coping strategies on situational coping. Additionally, gender differences were evaluated. RESULTS Positive Thinking (P=.03) and Active Stress Coping (P=.04) had significant positive impacts on situational coping in the total sample. For women, only Social Support had a significant positive effect on situational coping (P=.046). For men, only Active Stress Coping had a significant positive effect on situational coping (P=.001). Women had higher scores on the SCI scale Social Support than men (P=.007). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that different coping strategies could be more effective in daily life for women than for men, which should be considered in the development of interventions aimed at reducing stress consequences through coping. Interventions taking gender into consideration might lead to better coping-outcomes than generalized interventions.

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The Impact of the SPORTS Participation Motivation of KOREA College Students on Social Support and Social Adaptation

J-Institute ◽

10.22471/sport.2017.2.2.11 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 11-17

Author(s):

Su-ul Park ◽

◽

Dong-je Kim ◽

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

College Students ◽

Sports Participation ◽

Social Adaptation ◽

Participation Motivation ◽

The Impact

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Does Social Support Affect the Health of the Elderly in Rural China? A Meta-Analysis Approach

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16183471 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (18) ◽

pp. 3471 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Natuya Zhuori ◽

Yu Cai ◽

Yan Yan ◽

Yu Cui ◽

Minjuan Zhao

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Rural China ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Relevant Literature ◽

The Elderly ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Meta Regression ◽

The Impact

As the trend of aging in rural China has intensified, research on the factors affecting the health of the elderly in rural areas has become a hot issue. However, the conclusions of existing studies are inconsistent and even contradictory, making it difficult to form constructive policies with practical value. To explore the reasons for the inconsistent conclusions drawn by relevant research, in this paper we constructed a meta-regression database based on 65 pieces of relevant literature published in the past 25 years. For more valid samples to reduce publication bias, we also set the statistical significance of social support to the health of the elderly in rural areas as a dependent variable. Finally, combined with multi-dimensional social support and its implications for the health of the elderly, meta-regression analysis was carried out on the results of 171 empirical studies. The results show that (1) subjective support rather than objective support can have a significant impact on the health of the elderly in rural areas, and there is no significant difference between other dimensions of social support and objective support; (2) the health status of the elderly in rural areas in samples involving western regions is more sensitive to social support than that in samples not involving the western regions; (3) among the elderly in rural areas, social support for the older male elderly is more likely to improve their health than that for the younger female elderly; and (4) besides this, both data sources and econometric models greatly affect the heterogeneity of the effect of social support on the health of the elderly in rural areas, but neither the published year nor the journal is significant. Finally, relevant policies and follow-up studies on the impact of social support on the health of the elderly in rural areas are discussed.

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The Impact of Stressful Life Events and Social Support on Drinking among Older Adults: A General Population Survey

The International Journal of Aging and Human Development ◽

10.2190/f6g4-xlv3-5kw6-vmba ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 99-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Karen M. Jennison

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Life Events ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Prolonged Exposure ◽

Drinking Behavior ◽

National Sample ◽

Stressful Life ◽

Stress Buffering ◽

The Impact

This article is an analysis of stressful life events, the buffering hypothesis, and alcohol use in a national sample of 1,418 respondents 60 years of age and over. The results indicate that older adults who experience stressful losses are significantly more likely to drink excessively than those who have not experienced such losses or who have experienced them to a lesser extent. Increased drinking among older adults may therefore be a reaction to life circumstances in which alcohol represents an attempt to cope with traumatic loss, personal as well as within the kinship network. Supportive resources of spouse, family, friends, and church appear to have a stress-buffering effects that reduces the excessive-drinking response to life crisis. Data suggest, however, that older persons are vulnerable to the magnitude of losses experienced as they grow older and lose more of their family, friends, and peers. These stressors appear to seriously impact their drinking behavior and are not effectively buffered. Respondents report that drinking may increase during periods of prolonged exposure to emotionally depleting life change and loss, when supportive needs may exceed the capacities of personal and social support resources.

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Exploring the impact of COVID-19 and restrictions to daily living as a result of social distancing within veterans with pre-existing mental health difficulties

BMJ Military Health ◽

10.1136/bmjmilitary-2020-001622 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. bmjmilitary-2020-001622 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dominic Murphy ◽

C Williamson ◽

J Baumann ◽

W Busuttil ◽

N T Fear

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Support ◽

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽

Traumatic Stress ◽

Stress Disorder ◽

Post Traumatic Stress ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Mental Health Difficulties ◽

Post Traumatic ◽

The Impact

IntroductionData are emerging showing the adverse consequences on mental health of the general public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the needs of veterans with pre-existing mental health difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsData were collected through a cross-sectional online survey from a randomly selected sample (n=1092) of military veterans who have sought help for mental health difficulties from a veteran-specific UK-based charity. The response rate was 25.2% (n=275). Participants were asked to complete a range of standardised mental health outcomes (post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, common mental health difficulties (CMDs): 12-Item General Health Questionnaire, difficulties with anger: 5-Item Dimensions of Anger Reactions—Revised and alcohol misuse: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and endorse a list of potential stressors related to changes to daily life resulting from COVID-19. Regression analyses were fitted to explore predictors of mental health severity.ResultsIt was observed that symptoms of common mental disorder and PTSD (69.3% and 65.0%, respectively) were the most commonly reported to have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Lack of social support and reporting increasing numbers of stressors related to COVID-19 were consistently associated with increasing severity of a range of mental health difficulties.ConclusionsOur findings suggest veterans who had pre-existing mental health difficulties prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 may be at increased risk of experiencing CMDs as a result of the pandemic. Intervening to improve levels of social support and offering practical guidance to better manage any additional stressors relating to the pandemic may provide strategies to help reduce the burden of mental health symptoms.

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