Social Support Flashcards
Social Support
- History of Study
-
Contributor
- proposed?
Last 30 years → health research ↑ interest in social support
- powerful influence of social relationships on health has gathered interest
Study owes much to work of social epidemiologist John Cassel
- proposed that SS serves as key psychosocial protective factor that ↓ vulnerability to deleterious effects of stress on health
Social Support & Mortality/Morbidity
(3)
Research shows people with high quality/quantity of social networks have ↓ risk of mortality
Social Support may influence incidence & prevalance
Social isolation identified as independant major risk factor for all-cause mortality
Social Support
- definition
information from others that one is loved, cared for, esteemed, valued, part of network of communication & mutual obligations
- must be reciprocal
Social Support → (2) Main Models
1) Buffer Hypothesis
2) Direct Effects Hypothesis
1) Buffer Hypothesis
Support related to well-being primarily for person under stress
→ buffers/protects from influence of stress
→ value placed on perception of stress
- feelings of helplessness arise due to percieved inability to cope with situations demanding effective response
2) Direct Effects Hypothesis
influence of support on health is independant of current stress level
- focus on link between social integration & health
Social Network & Social Support
- are ____ that describe.. (3) of social relationships
Concepts that describe structure, process & functions of social relationships
Social Integration (SI)
- refers to? (2)
- significance?
- refers to:
- existance of social ties
- principles by which individuals are related to each other in society
protective factor for heart attack morbidity
- mid-low SI → ↑ 2x post-MI readmission
Social Network
refers to web of social relationships that surround individual
Social Support
→ important function of social relationships
aid/assistance exchanged through social relationships & interpersonal transactions
Social Support
- ___ & ____ in numerous ways
- (4) types
defined & measured
1) Emotional support
2) Appraisal support
3) Instrumental support
4) Informational support
1) Emotional support
→ Research implications (2)
involves provision of empathy, love, trust & caring
- can be positive or negative
→ ↓ perceived levels in elderly women predicted ↑ mortality
→ partner’s efforts to exert control are ineffective & can fortify undesired behavior
2) Appraisal support
involves provision of information that is useful for self-evaluation
→ constructive feedback, affirmation, & social comparison
3) Instrumental support
involves provision of tangible aid & services
4) Informational support
involves provision of advice, suggestions & info that can be used to address problems
Social Network → (3) important characteristics
*
1) Reciprocity
2) Intensity
3) Complexity
→ dyadic characteristics (between focus person & network)
Social Network → 3 Important Characteristics
1) Reciprocity
extent to which resources & support are both given & recieved in a relationship
Social Network → 3 Important Characteristics
2) Intensity
extent to which a relationship is characterized by emotional closeness
Social Network → 3 Important Characteristics
3) Complexity
extent to which a relationship serves a variety of functions
Social Network → 3 Important Characteristics
- DYADIC characteristics → meaning?
characteristics of specific relationships between focal individual & others in network
Social Support vs. Social Network
SS → 1 on 1 interaction
SN → linkages between people that may or may not provide SS & serve functions other than providing support
(3) Characteristics of Social Networks as a Whole
1) Homogeneity
2) Geographic DIspersion
3) Density
1) Homogeneity
extent to which network members are similar in terms of demographic characteristics
2) Geographic DIspersion
extent to which network members live in close proximity to focal person
3) Density
extent to which network members know & interact with each other
Conceptual Model of Social Support
depiction of mechanisms through which SN & SS may have positive effects on physical/mental & social health
→ many pathways entail reciprocal influence
Conceptual Model of Relationship of SN & SS to Health
- (5) pathways
1) Direct Effect on Health
2) Effect on Individual Coping Resources
3) Influence on Frequency/Duration of Exposure to Stressors
4) Effect on Community Resources
5) Potential Effects on Health Behaviors
1) Direct Effect on Health
supportive ties enhance health by meeting basic human needs → companionship, intimacy, sense of belonging & reassurance of self-worth
2) Effect on Individual Coping Resources
enhance ability to:
- access new contacts/information
- identify & solve problems
→ if support helps reduced uncertainty/unpredictability or produces desired outcomes, ↑ sense of personal control
→ help reinterpret events/problems in more constructive light
3) Influence on Frequency/Duration of Exposure to Stressors
↓ exposure associated wi th enhanced health
4) Effect on Community Resources
↑ community’s ability to garner resources & solve problems
- community empowerment & competence
5) Potential Effects on Health Behaviors
individuals are influenced & supported in healthy behaviors
- help-seeking, adherance to medical regimens, smoking cessation, weight loss
affect incidence/recovery from disease through influence on preventative, illness & sick role behavior
Conceptual Model → Buffering Effect
Resources at individual & community level may have direct health-enhancing effects & diminish negative effects due to stressor exposure
SOCIAL SUPPORT → Translating Theory into Practice
support-enhancing interventions need to begin with an assessment of social networks that are maintained by study popn → can help diagnose aspects that are not meeting needs of focal individuals & areas of strength
WHO should provide WHAT to WHOM & WHEN?
Social Support: Theory → Practice
WHO should provide WHAT to WHOM & WHEN?
1) Who → (3) sources
effectiveness of support depends on source
a) Informal/Natural
b) Formal
c) Socially SImilar
Social Support: Theory → Practice
WHO should provide WHAT to WHOM & WHEN?
2) What
perceptions of support rather than objective behaviors involved in interactions
→ necessary to identify factors that influence whether behavior is percieved as supportive
- previous experiences with helper
- social context of relationship
- role expectations
- individual preferences for type/amount of SS
Social Support: Theory → Practice
WHO should provide WHAT to WHOM & WHEN?
4) When
- effective type of SN & SS
*
types of SN & SS that effectively enhance health depend on age or developmental stage
During major life transition/stressor, people benefit from different types of support during various stages of coping
Intervention Implications (3)
- Need to Assess
- Facilitate trust, closeness & caring
- Importance of reciprocity
WHO
a) Informal/Natural
b) Formal
c) Socially Similar
a) family/friends
b) HC professionals
c) people who have experienced similar stressors/situations → ↑ empathetic understanding
Types of Interventions (4)
1) Enhancing Existing Network Ties
2) Developing New Social Network Linkages
3) Use of Indigenous Natural Helpers
4) Enhancing Networks through Community Capacity Building & Problem Solving
Interventions
1) Enhancing Existing Network Ties
attempt to change attitudes/behaviors of recipient & providers
often include activiites to build skills for effective support mobilization, provision & reciept
Interventions
1) Enhancing Existing Network Ties
* Challenges (3)
1) Commitment
2) Identification
3) Consistency
Interventions
1) Enhancing Existing Network Ties
* Challenges (3)
1) Commitment
2) Identification
3) Consistency
1) Identifying network members committed to providing support & have resources to sustain
2) Identifying changes in attitudes/behaviors that will ↑ percieved support
3) intervening in ways consistent with norms & interaction styles
Interventions
2) Developing New Social Network Linkages
a) most useful when?
b) most often introduced when?
a) existing network is small, overburdened or unable to provide effective support
b) in response to major life transition or specific stressor
- may introduce:
- mentors or advisors who have already coped with situation
- buddies who are experiencing same stressor/life transition at same time
Interventions
3) Use of Indigenous Natural Helpers
- define natural helper
- how to?
natural helper = SN members that other members naturally turn to for advice, support & other types of aid
Identify NHs by asking
- can help link SN members to each other & outside resources
Interventions
4) Community Capacity Building & Problem Solving
- involve community members in identifying/resolving community problems
- may indirectly strengthen SN in community
- use community organizing techniques to:
- enhance community capacity to resolve problems
- increase role in desicion-making
- resolve specific problems
