Social Support and Health Among Senior Internet Users: Results of an Online Survey

ABSTRACT

There is some disagreement as to whether the Internet has a positive or negative impact on social connection and well-being for older adults. Using an online survey, we assessed self-reported social support, health, and Internet use patterns among users over fifty years of age. In a comparison of highly social Internet users versus low-social users, we found that high-social users spent more time on-line and reported more physical and mental health problems. However, the groups did not differ in amount of or satisfaction with social support they received. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice with Mentally Ill Persons who Abuse Alcohol and Other Drugs

Abstract

The current article outlines a comprehensive approach to evidence-based social work practice, and applies it to persons with severe and persistent mental illness who also abuse alcohol and other drugs. Representative empirical literature is summarized within a framework that delineates the three major functions of evidence-based social work practice: assessment, intervention and evaluation. Assessment protocol, which incorporates the use of valid scales to complement the qualitative interview, is based on domain-specific research that outlines relevant psychosocial risk factors, and highlights those that are amenable to change. Intervention strategies are derived from the growing body of controlled research findings, but flexibility in implementation is recommended to accommodate clients' individual needs and the vagaries of daily practice. Naturalistic evaluation methods are used to capitalize on the use of brief, valid process and outcome measures to augment individual qualitative evaluation and to aggregate data for program evaluation. The implications of this integrated evidence-based strategy for social work practice are discussed.     

Women and Alcohol,Tobacco, and Other Drugs:

Increased number$ of women in the work force provide opportunities for services for problems with alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD) that are long overdue. Drawing from the contributions of wellness programs, and Ihe research and literature on women, this paper describes how to more effectively reach and assist women at risk of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs by broadening Employee Assistance Programs.     

Social Support and Depression Among Low Income Elderly

Abstract

Demographic, functional and social characteristics of residents living in a low-income senior housing complex are explored. These variables and perceptions of social support were analyzed for their effects on depression. The strongest predictor of depression was perceptions of social support. The findings are consistent with the research which shows that support through family and friends is important to consider when older adults experience health problems that lead to functional disability.     

Religious Social Support Protects against Social Risks for Adolescent Substance Use

We used a social developmental perspective to identify how prominent social contexts influence substance use during adolescence. Longitudinal data were collected annually from 167 parent–adolescent dyads over four years. We investigated whether parent substance use was related to adolescent substance use directly and indirectly via peer substance use and whether these associations were moderated by religious social support. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis indicated significant moderated mediation: Greater parent substance use predicted increases in adolescent substance use indirectly via increased peer substance use when adolescent religious social support was low or average, but not high. These results suggest religious social support may protect adolescents against prominent social risks for intergenerational substance use.     

Employment-Based Training on Alcohol and Other Drugs in England: Bridging the Gap

The first of its kind in England, this study explored the extent and nature of employer-based training on alcohol and other drugs for social workers working in children's and adults' services. A national survey of workforce development departments was undertaken to find out how social workers are being prepared by their employers for engaging with people who use alcohol and other drugs. Based on a response rate of 46%, the findings show that a majority of departments (82%) provided training on these issues in the year 2011–2012. However, most of this training was not mandatory. These courses are targeted most often at those working in children's services rather than those in adults' services. Most courses are offered at basic or intermediary level, and content of training is covered inconsistently. These findings suggest a need to increase the priority of alcohol and other drugs' training across adults' services in particular and to make this training mandatory, as well as ensuring that staff have adequate time and incentive to attend. Effectiveness of social care practice for all social care practitioners around alcohol and other drugs use could be improved with more focus on training practitioners how to talk to service users about their substance use.     

What Neurobiology has to Say About Why People Abuse Alcohol and Other Drugs

Abstract

Four major hypotheses have been formulated to address the issue of why some people develop compulsive use of particular drugs. These hypotheses include: (1) Drugs that are abused sensitize the motivational systems of the brain such that the behavioral routines for acquisition of the drug become compulsive, (2) Drugs that are abused stimulate the pleasure centers in the brain, (3) People who abuse drugs are naturally in an aversive state that their drug use enables them to escape, and (4) Drugs of abuse are associated with aversive withdrawal phenomena which can be elicited by conditioned stimuli, therefore people continue to take drugs to avert conditioned withdrawal states. This paper examines each of these hypotheses in light of research findings from neurobiology.     

Living Arrangements and Informal Social Support Among the Elderly

One of the most pervasive patterns in living arrangements observed among today's elderly has been the increasing propensity to live alone. This paper assesses the extent to which living along, living with a spouse, or living with others (no spouse present) affects several dimensions of informal social support. The data for this study are from a 1983 survey focusing on living arrangement choices among elderly persons living in London, Ontario, Canada. Overall, living arrangement is considerably more important as a determinant of instrumental support than social contact. Elders choosing to live alone appear to sacrifice some degree of mutual exchange for privacy and independence. They also tend to rely on friendship to a greater extent than marred elderly or those who co-reside with others. Implications for support services and changes in the family are discussed in the context of living arrangement selection in later life.     

Career Adaptability and Social Support Among Graduating College Seniors

Previous research has highlighted the employment needs of recent college graduates, focusing on the specific challenges members of this group encounter as they transition into the workforce. This study examined graduating seniors (N = 164) during their senior year of college as they transitioned to the workforce, investigating career adaptability and social support. Results from multiple regression analyses found that the concern resource of career adaptability was significantly predicted by social support. Implications and future directions are highlighted.     

Social Support as a Potential Moderator of Adolescent Delinquent Behaviors

The issue of juvenile delinquency continues to concern both policy makers and parents. Engaging in negative behaviors or activities that are not socially acceptable can have serious implications for adolescents' physical, emotional, and social development. Therefore, it is important that human service practitioners working with adolescents understand those factors that influence their delinquent behavior in order to develop effective interventions. This paper reports the findings of a study of self-reported delinquent activity among a sample of 779 adolescents who attended middle schools in a large urban city in the southwest United States. The study examines the relationships between delinquent behavior, social support, and a variety of other psychosocial factors. The implications of those relationships for human service practice and research are discussed.     

Adolescent Fathers' Parenting Stress,Social Support,and Involvement with Infants

The present study examined the relationship between concurrent measures of adolescent fathers' parenting stress, social support, and fathers' care‐giving involvement with the 3‐month‐old infant, controlling for fathers' prenatal involvement. The study sample consisted of 50 teenage father–mother dyads. Findings from multivariate regression revealed that fathers' parenting stress was significantly and negatively related to fathers' care giving as perceived by both fathers and mothers. The relationship between support for father involvement provided by the young man's parents and father reported care‐giving involvement approached significance. Social support from both teenagers' parents buffered the negative influence of parenting stress on fathers' involvement with the baby. Policy and intervention implications are discussed.     

Intermarriage and Social Support Among Canadians in Middle and Later Life

Despite widespread attention to population aging and contemporary increases in racial intermarriage, little is known regarding their joint implications for social support in middle and later life. Drawing on data from the 2007 General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada on intermarried and endogamously married adults age 45 and over (N = 13,238), this study examined the effects of intermarriage on instrumental and emotional support. The results revealed that intermarriage was accompanied by a reduced likelihood of instrumental support with transportation from others outside the household but that it had no impact on the receipt of help with household tasks or in caring for family members and a positive impact on emotional support. These findings suggest that intermarriage is not uniformly positive, neutral, or negative in its implications for social support. Future theoretical and empirical work will need to address the complexities of these relationships in order to enhance our understanding of these emergent family structures.     

US Social Work Students' Attitudes Shift Favorably Towards a Harm Reduction Approach to Alcohol and Other Drugs Practice: The Effectiveness of Consequence Analysis

Given the increasing numbers of people in need of treatment for problems associated with Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) problems and the concomitant likelihood that social worker caseloads currently reflect this increase, a critical analysis of social work student attitudes towards different approaches to AOD treatment is warranted. Our study examined United States' social work students' (n = 100) attitudes towards treatment approaches to practice with people who misuse/abuse AOD and enlisted a Consequence Analysis (CA) intervention designed to shift attitudes towards considering a harm reduction approach. The Harm Reduction Acceptability Scale (HRAS), as well as a two-item response measure, measured pretest and posttest attitudes. Findings demonstrate that at pretest both intervention and comparison groups were willing to consider a goal of moderation (a proxy for the acceptability of a harm reduction approach and a client-centered perspective), and neutral on the effectiveness of an abstinence-oriented approach. At posttest, the intervention group became more flexible and open to the broader philosophical perspective of a harm reduction approach while the comparison group became less so. Consequence Analysis appears responsible for producing the observed changes in attitude towards harm reduction. Implications for international social work education and training are discussed.     

Analyzing HIV/AIDS and Alcohol and Other Drug Use as a Social Problem

Most prevention and intervention activities directed toward HIV/AIDS and alcohol and other drug use separately as well as the combining of the two (e.g., those who are both HIV/AIDS and using alcohol and other drugs) comes in the form of specific, individualized therapies without consideration of social influences that may have a greater impact on this population. Approaching this social problem from the narrowed view of individualized, micro solutions disregards the larger social conditions that affect or perhaps even are at the root of the problem. This paper analyzes the social problem of HIV/AIDS and alcohol and other drug abuse using three sociological perspectives—social construction theory, ethnomethodology, and conflict theory—informing the reader of the broader influences accompanying this problem.     

Social Support Networks and Loneliness Among Elderly Jews in Russia and Ukraine

The collapse of the Soviet Union had devastating consequences for the lives of its population, especially for older adults, many of whom became impoverished and were left with no social support. Using data from a survey of 2,579 elderly Jews in two of the largest countries of the former Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine, we examine variables that affect their feeling of loneliness. Unmarried and childless elderly persons reported the highest feelings of loneliness. Married elderly persons who maintained frequent contact with their children felt least lonely. Moreover, married and unmarried elderly persons who did not maintain frequent contact with relatives or friends were lonelier than those who maintained such contact. The characteristics of social networks were significantly correlated with loneliness. The findings also showed that Jews in Ukraine had fewer social networks and felt lonelier compared to Jews in Russia.     

Social Support, Traumatic Events, and Depressive Symptoms Among African Americans

Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships among stress, social support, negative interaction, and mental health in a sample of African American men and women between ages 18 and 54 (N = 591) from the National Comorbidity Study. The study findings indicated that social support decreased the number of depressive symptoms, did not mitigate the effects of stress, and was reduced in response to financial strain. Financial strain and traumatic events were associated with increased negative interaction with relatives and depressive symptoms. The findings verify that stressful and traumatic events have direct influences on levels of depressive symptoms and affect the quality of social interactions and suggest how social interaction processes contribute to mental health.     

Systemic Barriers to the Employment of Social Workers in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Agencies

Abstract

Literature suggests a low number of social workers employed in the field of alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment. This study shows that social workers with undergraduate degrees (BSWs) have higher rates of employment in AOD than bachelor's degree holders from other disciplines. Master's level social workers (MSWs), however, have a much lower involvement than their counterparts with counseling degrees. Six factors are inferred to partially explain MSWs' low involvement in the field: (1) low education requirements; (2) low pay; (3) absence of “social worker” positions; (4) competition among different disciplines; (5) lack of MSW interns; and (6) state certification requirement. Suggestions to increase the employment of social workers in the AOD field are offered.     

Support,Discrimination, and Alcohol Use Among Racially/Ethnically Diverse Sexual Minority Youths

Rates of alcohol use for sexual minority youths are nearly twice that of their heterosexual peers, yet specific risk and protective factors associated with alcohol use among sexual minority youths remain unclear. Structural equation modeling is used to examine relations among alcohol use, peer and family support, and discrimination among 207 diverse sexual minority youths. Discrimination had no relationship to alcohol use; however, it was negatively associated with peer and family support. Peer support was associated with greater alcohol use among bisexual youths. This study adds to our understanding of the roles of discrimination, social support, and alcohol use among diverse sexual minority youths.