Social Support

Question 1

What is stress caused by?

Answer 1

• enviornmental stimulus- the stressor

Question 2

When are events deemed to be more stressful?

Answer 2

• negative or uncontrollable
• contribute to overload
• are ambiguous

Question 3

What are the categories of stressor?

Answer 3

-acute time limited eg taking test
- stressor consequences eg losing job
- chronic intermittent eg meeting weekly deadlines
- chronic eg poor living conditions
- also can distinguish between physical threats and ego threats

Question 4

What are behavioural impacts of stress?

Answer 4

• might also impact health-related behaviours eg diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise
• stress might influence social interactions which could increase or reduce exposure to pathogens

Question 5

What are the two scales for measuring stress?

Answer 5

-The percieved stress scale (PSS)- classic stress assesment instrument- 1983
-SSRS: Holme and Rahe 1967)- The social readjustment rating scalee

Question 6

What is The percieved stress scale (PSS)- classic stress assessment instrument- 1983?

Answer 6

• remains popular choice for helping to understand situations affecting our feelings and percieved stress

Question 7

What is SSRS: Holme and Rahe 1967)- The social readjustment rating scale, what was the background?

Answer 7

• researchers chose 43 potential life events
• asked 394 pps to rate them according to amount of social readjustment they required
• on the basis of these ratings they calculated a life change uni score for each other

Question 8

What is SSRS: Holme and Rahe 1967)- The social readjustment rating scale, what was the use of the scale?

Answer 8

-total value for stressful life events can be worked out by adding up the scores for each event experienced over 12 months
- less than 150 life change units = 30% chance of suffering from stress
- 150-299 life change units= 50% chance of suffering from stress
- over 300 life units = 80% chance of developing a stress-related ilness

Question 9

What are some weaknesses of the SSRS(Holmes and Rahe 1967)?

Answer 9

• ignores recurrent events
• different life events may have different significance to different people eg bereavement
• some events could be symptoms of being ill rather than causes

Question 10

What can positive social support of high quality do?

Answer 10

• enhance resilience to stress
• help protect against developing trauma-related psychopathology
• reduce medical morbidity and mortality

Question 11

What are the different ways social support and health can be conceptualised?

Answer 11

• social integration eg no of people avaliable
• relationship quality eg nature of marital relationship
• percieved social support eg how satisfied individuals are with the support avaliable

Question 12

What has good quality social support been linked with?

Answer 12

• reduced mortality: cardiovascular disease, cancer etc
• reduced blood pressure
• better sleep
• better adjustment to and/ or improved recovery from heart surgery, kidney disease and stroke

Question 13

What is the direct effects hypothesis?

Answer 13

• social interactions provide positive experiences and facilitare meaningful roles positive affect and self esteem—– influences:
• physiological systems eg immune system
• psychological processes eg percieved control
• health related behaviours eg exercise
  -social support is of benefit regardless of whether people are stressed - absence of social support is stressful

Question 14

What is the buffering hypothesis?

Answer 14

• opposite to direct hypothesis
• social support is only related to well being for those who are under stress
• existence of others facilitates effectring coping

Question 15

What is the research study in buffering hypothesis?

Answer 15

McGarth, S.K., & Kennel, J.H. (2008) randomised controlled trial of continous labor support for middle class couples effect on cesarean delivery rates

Question 16

What were the findings of McGarth, S.K., & Kennel, J.H. (2008) randomised controlled trial of continous labor support for middle class couples effect on cesarean delivery rates?

Answer 16

-sig fewer women in doula group had caesarean sections (13.4% vs 25%)
- sig fewer women in the doula group had epidurals (64.7% vs 76%)
- the overwhelming majority of women and their partners in the doula group rated their experience with the doula positively

Question 17

What did Kroenke et al 2006 say in social support and breast cancer?

Answer 17

found women who were socially isolated before breast cancer diagnosis were 2x more likely to die from breast cancer

Question 18

What are some positive negative influences in social support and health?

Answer 18

-poor realtionship quality eg marriage
- negative interactions with others eg arguments
- poorly matched support eg you want someone to listen and they start problem solving
- over involved others
- behavioural influence

Question 19

What is the social cure?

Answer 19

-group memberships may also have implications for health outcomes and wellbeing
- group membership and identification may exert its effects via self esteem, social support and percived control (Greenaway et al 2015)

Question 20

What is the social cure contingent upon?

Answer 20

• identification with the group and
• state and circumstances of the group eg if a group with which one identifies strongly is stigmatised then this will adversly impact health outcomes ( Jetten et al 2017)

Question 21

What is social prescribing?

Answer 21

• aims to enhance social connections and health and well being of those chronic conditions made worse through loneliness
• research has consisitently found links between social prescription, health and well being and social cure mechanisms