Factors associated with perceived social support in older people with cancer

OBJECTIVE: To analyze factors associated with perceived social support in older people with cancer. METHODOLOGY: This is a cross-sectional, analytical study conducted with a convenience sample of 134 older people seen at a specialist cancer treatment unit in a hospital located in a municipal district in the South of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Data collection was conducted by interview and analysis of medical records. Social support was analyzed using the Medical Outcomes Study social support scale. The Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to analyze differences between means. Linear regression was used for analysis of associations. RESULTS: The majority of the sample of older people with cancer analyzed were male, aged from 60 to 74 years, and reported high mean scores for material support; affective support; positive social interaction; and emotional/informational support. Factors with positive associations with social support were: not living alone; income one to three times the minimum wage; having a partner; rating health as good/very good; and presence of comorbidity. Factors with negative associations were: poor/very poor perceived income and polypharmacy use. CONCLUSIONS: This sample of older people reported high mean scores for material support; affective support; positive social interaction; and emotional/informational support. Factors associated with perceived social support were: living arrangements; family income; perceived sufficiency of income; marital status; health self-assessment; comorbidity; and polypharmacy.

Modeling the Relationships among Academic Identity, Psychological Sense of School Membership, and Teacher Support: The Mediating Role of Academic Adjustment in Academic Performance

Introduction: This study was conducted to model the relationships of academic identity, psychosocial sense of school membership, and teacher support with academic performance by the mediating role of academic adjustment. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional research, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the relationships. The statistical sample of the study (n=422) were students selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method. The instruments used to gather the necessary data were the following questionnaires: Adjustment Inventory for School Students, Academic Identity Status Scale, Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale, and Teacher Emotional Support Scale. Furthermore, the studentchr('39')s grade point average in the current semester was considered as a measure of academic performance. The collected data were analyzed in AMOS software (version 24) using path analysis and SEM. Results: The direct affecting analysis results revealed that the variables of moratorium identity and achievement identity, psychological sense of school membership, and academic adjustment each had a direct significant effect on studentschr('39') academic performance (P<0.05). However, there was no significant relationship between teacher affective support and studentschr('39') academic performance (P>0.05). The results of the indirect-affecting analysis showed that such variables as moratorium, diffusion, and achievement identity, psychological sense of school membership, and teacher affective support by the mediating role of academic adjustment had a significant effect on academic performance (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that besides the teacher affective support, some aspects of academic identity, psychological sense of school membership, and academic adjustment had a significant effect on studentschr('39') academic performance. Therefore, it is recommended to develop programs based on the variables of this study to increase studentschr('39') academic performance.

Decentering the “White Working Class”

This essay is a review of William Connolly’s Aspirational Fascim, and thus an extended analysis of the intersection of affect, race, class, and democracy. Connolly explores the role of negative affective contagion in mobilizing aggrieved white working class communities and argues for more inclusive pluralistic democracy and the use of positive affective democratic contagion to resist fascism. But he limits the radical potential of his argument because he focuses primarily on the white working class, thereby paying too little attention to the negative affective experiences of the trauma of racism. He should also interrogate not only fascist but also other types of negative affective support for Trump. I frame the essay as an invitation for productive engagement and conversation with Connolly.