Social support and self-management among end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis in Indonesia

Background: Self-management is the latest multidisciplinary intervention that empowers end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients to be active in maintaining their health status. The implementation of self-management among ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis in Indonesia remains relatively low, contributing to the high prevalence of complications and morbidity. The social cognitive theory proposes that social support is one of the environmental factors affecting health behavior change. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between social support and self-management among ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis in Indonesia.Design and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 107 ESRD patients selected by consecutive sampling. Data were collected online from four chronic kidney disease communities in Indonesia in June 2020. Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey and Hemodialysis Self-Management Instrument were used to measure patients’ functional social support and self-management levels. Statistical analysis using the Chi-square test was applied to evaluate the association between social support and self-management.Results: More than half of the patients had high social support (51%) and good self-management (53%). There was a significant relationship between social support and self-management (p = 0.027; α = 0.05; odds ratio 95% CI = 2.386). Conclusions: Social support is a potential environmental factor that can be modified to enhance health behavior change among ESRD patients in Indonesia, with the specific behavior being self-management. This study recommends functional social support as an integral part of self-management intervention provided through cooperation between health workers, chronic kidney disease community, and patient companions.

Character Strengths Predict Subjective Well-Being, Psychological Well-Being, and Psychopathological Symptoms, Over and Above Functional Social Support

The increasing value of character strengths in the prediction of well-being and psychopathology, after the effects of functional social support and sociodemographic variables are accounted for, is examined. Participants were 1494 Spanish-speaking students between the ages of 18 and 68 (43.3% men and 56.7% women) who completed measures of character strengths, functional social support, subjective well-being, psychological well-being, and symptoms of psychopathology. Functional social support had predictive value in explaining the variability of each component of well-being and psychopathology. Regarding character strengths, theological strengths had the greatest predictive power for life satisfaction (β = 0.41), positive affect (β = 0.49), affect balance (β = 0.45), purpose in life (β = 0.60), self-acceptance (β = 0.50), environmental mastery (β = 0.47), and positive relations with others (β = 0.25). Emotional strengths made the strongest contribution to the variance explained (β = 0.41) of autonomy, and intellectual strengths were the strongest predictive variable for personal growth (β = 0.39). Strengths of restraint had the greatest predictive power for the global severity index of psychopathology (β = –0.27). Functional social support and character strengths have strong links to mental health. Positive interventions to develop these variables could contribute to enhance well-being and prevent psychological distress.

The Relationships Among Structural Social Support, Functional Social Support, and Loneliness in Older Adults: Analysis of Regional Differences Based on a Multigroup Structural Equation Model

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between structural social support and loneliness and explored whether functional social support had an intermediate role therein. It also employed a multigroup structural equation model to compare mediation models among older adults living in cities, towns, and rural areas.Methods: Using a self-made demographics questionnaire, the structural-functional social support scale, and the 3-item UCLA loneliness scale, this study collected information from 1,325 older adults identified via convenient sampling.Results: The results showed that as: (1) compared with older adults living in towns, older urban, and rural adults had higher structural social support and experienced less loneliness, while older adults’ functional social support showed no difference among the three regions (2) An analysis of the models of regional differences indicated that functional social support served as a full mediator in the relationship between structural social support and loneliness in urban older adults, and a partial mediator for older adults living in towns and rural areas.Conclusion: The relationship between structural social support and loneliness is mediated by functional social support, and this mediation model varies between older adults in cities and towns/rural areas. This study helps us understand possible mechanisms through which structural social support impacts loneliness. It suggests that nursing strategies for older adults should be adjusted according to the region and direct greater focus on the function (or quality) of the social support network and older adults living in towns.

How Do Non-Catastrophic Natural Disasters Impact Middle-Aged-to-Older Persons? Using Baseline Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Data to Explore Psychological Outcomes Associated with the 2013 Calgary Flood

The objective of this study was to identify group-level health outcomes associated with the 2013 Calgary flood on Calgary participants (45–85 years of age) in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). We compared baseline CLSA data collected on Calgary participants during the 6 months prior to and following the flood. Logistic regression models were created to explore whether select psychological outcomes were associated with the flood for participants categorized by evacuation status. Participants living in evacuated communities pre-flood had significantly lower levels of a diagnosed anxiety disorder than non-evacuated communities, which disappeared post-flood. Participants with higher household income were less likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, worse self-rated mental health, and lower life satisfaction post-flood. Living alone reduced and female gender increased levels of perceived functional social support post-flood. Although natural disasters can shape research findings, the scope of the data being collected and the representativeness of impacted groups may challenge the ability to detect subtle impacts.

Academic Help-Seeking Attitudes, and Their Relationship with Emotional Variables

Academic help seeking is a self-regulatory strategy that is closely related to students’ school functioning and successful school outcomes. The aim of the present study is to gain greater insight into the associations between help-seeking behavior and attitudes (i.e., emotional costs, perception of benefits, threats and avoidance of academic help seeking), and socio-emotional factors (i.e., functional social support, satisfaction with life, happiness, academic and social self-concept, emotional loneliness and social network). Two hundred and thirty-two students from three public secondary schools (53.9% girls; mean age = 16.61, SD = 2.85) participated in this study by completing the assessment form during school hours. As expected, the results showed significant associations between attitudes toward academic help seeking and socioemotional factors except for (1) perceived emotional cost of academic help seeking and happiness, academic self-concept and social network, (2) threat of academic help seeking and satisfaction with life and social network and (3) avoidance of academic help seeking and social network, in which cases the correlations were not significant. Finally, (1) emotional loneliness was found to be a significant predictor of the perceived emotional cost of academic help seeking, (2) functional social support, academic self-concept, social self-concept and subjective evaluation of the social network were found to be significant predictors of the perceived benefits of academic help seeking, (3) emotional loneliness and academic self-concept were found to be significant predictors of both threat of academic help seeking and avoidance of academic help seeking. The results of this study suggest that psycho-emotional variables play an important role in academic help-seeking strategies and can affect students’ final behavior in help seeking.

Social Supports Available to Persons with Disabilities in Nigeria

Disability entails more than the mere physical deformity such as stroke; however, a disability could manifest in different forms; mental, emotional, sensory and intellectual disability among others. People with disability are faced with a lot of challenges and they experience depression, isolation and social exclusion which were explained in studies from the natural and behavioral sciences. Also, Social workers and Psychologists alike have often discussed the importance of social inclusion and social support for people living with a disability. Social support helps to reduce psychological stress, enhance the quality of life and achieve social inclusion. Lack of social support increases the risk of depression, social exclusion, maladaptive behaviors and mortality. In this paper, we will give a thorough explanation of Social support and its forms. We emphasized the influence of neurobiology, personality features, social system and perception on who gets social support and to what extent. The paper also discussed Nigeria’s perceptions of disability and the social support networks in Nigeria, using vast literature. From literature, social supports are of different kinds however, this paper emphasized the need for functional social support which entails changing negative perceptions about disability. In other words, social support should not be just assisting the individual to access their immediate needs but should entail involving them in decision making – social inclusion.

Fatigue in breast cancer patients during the therapy: Examining the role of demographic and clinical determinants, psychological factors and social support

Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most prominent problems in cancer patients, which often remains inadequately treated, because the etiology of this syndrome is still relatively unknown. This study aimed to examine demographic, clinical, and psycho-social determinants of physical and mental aspects of cancer-related fatigue. The study was conducted on 64 women with a breast cancer diagnosis, aged between 33 and 79 years (M=58.36, SD=11.30) while undergoing radiation therapy. For the assessment of physical and mental fatigue, the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS Serbian) was used. Demographic and clinical data, symptoms of anxiety and depression (DASS-21), neuroticism (BFI), and functional and structural social support (Serbian translation MOS-SSS) were examined as well. The results showed that depression, anxiety, and neuroticism correlated positively with both physical and mental fatigue, while structural and functional social support correlated negatively only with the physical dimension. Participants who have a partner reported significantly lower levels of physical fatigue compared to those who are not in a relationship, while such a difference was not detected in the case of mental fatigue. Neuroticism and relationship status were the most important predictors of physical fatigue, while neuroticism alone was the most significant predictor of mental fatigue. The results showed that physical and mental fatigue have different correlates, and that personality traits and social support might be of greater relevance for understanding fatigue, than clinical and demographic factors. These findings may be of importance when assessing the risk factors for fatigue and planning psycho-social interventions to empower breast cancer patients.

Association between functional social support and cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults: a protocol for a systematic review

IntroductionMaintenance of cognitive function into old age is important for ageing populations. Researchers seek to identify modifiable risk and protective factors for cognitive function. One such modifiable factor is functional social support, that is, one’s perception of whether their social network can provide resources such as material help, companionship, information and emotional contact, if needed. While the literature generally reports positive associations between functional social support and cognitive function, results vary according to study methods such as the tool used to measure functional social support or the specific cognitive domain under investigation. Our review will summarise the association between functional social support and cognitive function in middle-aged and older-aged adults who reside in any setting (eg, community dwelling, long-term care facilities). We will also identify sources of discrepant findings between studies.Methods and analysisThis protocol was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols guideline. PubMed, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Scopus will be searched from inception to the present using a search strategy developed with a medical librarian’s help. We will supplement the database searches with a grey literature search. English-language or French-language studies with a comparison group will be subject to inclusion, regardless of the measures used to assess functional social support or cognitive function. We will assess risk of bias with the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool-Version 2 or the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, narratively synthesise the extracted data and conduct a meta-analysis of studies with similar characteristics (eg, sample age and sex, cognitive function outcomes). Two independent raters will screen articles and assess risk of bias.Ethics and disseminationThis review is timely given the push toward early diagnosis and treatment of dementia/major neurocognitive disorder and other types of cognitive impairment. This protocol does not require a formal ethics review. We will publish our findings in a peer-reviewed journal.