Quality of Social Networks Among UK Chinese

The present study examines factors affecting the quality of social networks of Chinese in the UK, in relation to network size and perceived respect gained from social network. The study further explores the role of social networks in relation to the social norms of helping and helping behaviour. Two hundred and eleven British Chinese participants recruited from Chinese health and community centres across the United Kingdom completed a quantitative questionnaire. The 38-item instrument consisted of four main domains: health and functioning; social functioning; volunteerism; and demographics. Findings revealed an association between social participation and social network size. High levels of trust in family members was found to be negatively associated with social network size, implying that strong family relations is a hindrance to social network size among British Chinese participants. More research is needed to further explore social networks of the British Chinese and the implications that this may have on use of services and social participation.     

Correlating Post-disaster Support Network Density with Reciprocal Support Relation Satisfaction: An Elderly Cohort Within One Year of the 2011 Japan Disasters

While there has been much empirical investigation into how social support networks improve mental health in post-disaster communities, network density—the extent members within a network are acquainted—remains under-researched. This study examines correlations between support network density and support reciprocity satisfaction in an elderly sample (N = 221), and the influence on post-disaster depression and trauma symptomology in a fishing community south of the Fukushima nuclear plant within 1 year of the March 11, 2011 Japan earthquake. The Brief Inventory of Social Support Exchange Network (BISSEN) taps support network density, support source by relational category, tangible and emotional type, and providing or receiving direction of social support. Density measurement convergent validity was established from questionnaire responses. After confirming network density construct and criteria validity, and extracting components reciprocal support relationship satisfaction, correlation between these two variables was moderate at r = 0.34. However, reciprocity satisfaction moderately explained mental health variance, but results were not significant for density nor interaction between predictors. These results question the assumption that support network density and support reciprocity can be validly incorporated into a construct of “social capital” necessarily promoting mental health.     

The Quality of Social Networks: Its Determinants and Impacts on Helping and Volunteering in Macao

Pro-social behaviors serve essential societal functions. This study examines the factors affecting the quality of social networks, in terms of network size and perceived respect. It further explores the role of social networks in enhancing helping intention and helping behaviors. Eight hundred and eighty people were randomly interviewed by phone. Results indicated that the level of social participation, trust, and social identification were positively related to the quality of the social networks. A better social network was related to a higher level of helping intention and longer hours of volunteer works.     

西部城市贫困与社会支持网缺失研究—以昆明为例

自20世纪90年代以来,城市贫困日益凸显并成为中国经济社会发展中的突出问题之一,西部地区更是如此。以昆明市为例,通过调查研究发现,社会支持网在西部城市反贫困中发挥着重要作用,但是西部城市贫困家庭社会支持网平均规模仅为2.33,远远小于全国9.1的平均水平。这表明西部城市贫困的产生与社会支持网缺失有着一定的联系。为此,构建完善的社会支持网成为西部地区城市反贫困的政策选择之一。     

Psychometric Properties of the Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey with a General Population Sample of Undergraduate Students

Among non-clinical populations, perceived social support is an important factor in health maintenance and well-being. Among measures that purport to assess perceived social support, the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS) is based on a strong conceptual framework and has been subjected to a rigorous psychometric evaluation. Since no studies have investigated its psychometric properties with a young, non-clinical population, the purpose of this study is to investigate the psychometric properties (construct validity, internal consistency, and test–retest reliability) of an Italian version of the MOS-SSS with a non-clinical population sample. A convenience sample of 485 undergraduate students (73.0 % female; mean age = 21.81 ± 1.52) has been recruited. With regards to scale dimensionality, the best fit measurement model found support for the four subscales proposed by the original version: emotional and informational support, tangible support, positive social interactions, and affectionate support (χ ²/df = 4.49; CFI = .92; TLI = .91; RMSEA = .08). MOS-SSS subscales showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha for the subscales ranged from .848 to .939). Significant correlations were found with measures of psychological well-being (Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-Being) and depression (Beck-Depression Inventory-II). Test–retest stability was tested by examining a subsample (N = 225) over a 10-week period (correlation coefficients for the subscales ranged from .502 to .579). The findings suggest that MOS-SSS presents good psychometric characteristics with a young general population sample. Therefore, the MOS-SSS seems to be a psychometrically sound measure for the evaluation of perceived social support among young non-clinical populations.     

Scrutinizing Homophobia: A Model of Perception of Homosexuals in Russia

We aimed to develop and validate a model of associations of perceived threat of homosexuals with lay beliefs about causes of homosexuality, group entitativity of homosexuals, approval of social action strategies targeting homosexuals, and support for their rights using original Russian-language measures. We tested the model in two samples of social network users (n = 1,007) and student respondents (n = 292) using structural equation modeling and path analysis. Attribution of homosexuality to social causes was a positive predictor of perceived threat of homosexuals, whereas biological causes showed an inverse effect. Perceived threat predicted approval of discriminatory strategies targeting homosexuals and lack of support for their rights and fully mediated the effects of causal beliefs on these variables. Group entitativity of homosexuals was a positive predictor of perceived threat and a significant moderator of its effects on support for punishment and medical treatment of homosexuals. We discuss the findings with reference to the Russian social context.     

Social Networks,Social Cohesion,and Later-Life Health

Our study contributes to the literature acknowledging the joint role of social networks and social cohesion in shaping individual’s health, focusing on the older population aged 50 and over. Exploiting rich ego-centered social network data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and following the conceptual model of social integration and health proposed by Berkman et al. (Soc Sci Med 51:843–857. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(00)00065-4, 2000), we estimate multilevel models of self-reported and observer-measured later-life health outcomes. These models simultaneously account for (a) characteristics of 39,551 respondents’ personal social networks and (b) a measure of social cohesion—namely, participation in social organizations—across 57 Continental European regions, clustered in 14 countries. We find significant associations between individuals’ health and various social network characteristics (size, support, quality) as well as social cohesion. Moreover, cross-level interaction effects suggest that the social-network-health nexus is contextually bound. We conclude with a discussion of limitations and perspectives for future research.     

Does Perceived Social Support Buffer the Negative Effects of Type C Personality on Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Patients?

The present study investigated possible Type C personality–quality of life (QOL) relationship, and the moderating role of perceived social support in this relation among 101 postoperative breast cancer patients. Participants were from different cities in Turkey but receiving treatment in the capital, Ankara. Obtained data were analyzed by moderated regression analysis. According to the results, Type C personality was not related to the QOL of participants, however, higher perceived social support was associated with better QOL in patients. Also, perceived social support moderated Type C personality–QOL relation. Accordingly, patients high on Type C personality and perceived social support had the highest QOL. In contrast, patients high on Type C personality and low on perceived social support had the lowest QOL. Findings, as well as the strengths and limitations of the study, were discussed in the light of the relevant literature. As a possible clinical implication, enhancement of social support networks of the patients were suggested.     

Paternal Incarceration and Adolescent Social Network Disadvantage

Previous research has suggested that adolescent peers influence behavior and provide social support during a critical developmental period, but few studies have addressed the antecedents of adolescent social networks. Research on the collateral consequences of incarceration has explored the implications of parental incarceration for children’s behavioral problems, academic achievement, health, and housing stability, but not their social networks. Using network data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, I find that adolescents with recently incarcerated fathers are in socially marginal positions in their schools and befriend more-marginal peers than other adolescents: their friends are less advantaged, less academically successful, and more delinquent than other adolescents’ friends. Differences in network outcomes are robust to a variety of specifications and are consistent across race and gender subgroups. This study advances the social networks literature by exploring how familial characteristics can shape adolescent social networks and contributes to the collateral consequences of incarceration literature by using network analysis to consider how mass incarceration may promote intergenerational social marginalization.     

社会资本与身心健康--概念辨析基础上的关系再检验

社会资本与健康研究领域存在核心概念界定不清与理论解释欠缺两大不足。文章在社会网络的视角下对社会资本、社会凝聚和社会支持三个相互杂糅的概念进行辨析区分，并在此基础上以调查数据实证检验了社会资本对身心健康的作用效果与影响机制。结果显示，在控制社会凝聚和社会支持作用的条件下，社会资本依然对自评健康和心理健康存在显著的独立影响，但其对两种健康在影响因素和影响方向上呈现一些差异。其中，网络规模和网络顶端对自评健康和心理健康都具有显著的正向作用，而心理健康同时还受到网络差异的负向影响。从这个角度而言，社会资本对个体身心健康的影响并不必然是积极正向的。     

Perception of health,well-being,and quality of life in female caregivers: Comparative study of a sample of adult and older women in Spain

In a study on informal or unpaid care, it is difficult to identify the consequences and effects of care provision on the caregiver’s daily life. Thus, it is important to analyze the perceptions of the individual caregiver. This study describes the perceptions of health, well-being, support networks, and quality of life of 13 women aged between 45 and 70 years after completing an intervention program. The data indicate that caregivers’ health and quality of life worsen with the intervention, and their well-being and social relations (through new technologies) improve.     

Structural and Cognitive Aspects of Social Capital and All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies

Social capital covers different characteristics such as social networks, social participation, social support and trust. The aim of this study was to explore which aspects of social capital were predictive of mortality. Criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis were: population based observational cohort studies (follow-up ≥5 years); study sample included the adult population; parts of social capital as the primary exposure variable of interest; reported a mortality outcome; and sample size >1,000 individuals. Twenty studies provided eligible data for the meta-analyses. A random effect model was used to estimate the combined overall hazard rate ratio effects of structural social capital such as social participation and social networks, and cognitive social capital including social support and trust in relation to mortality. The results showed that social participation and social networks were negatively associated with mortality. The impact of social networks attenuated somewhat when controlling for gender and age. While trust also appeared to be negatively associated with mortality, we remain cautious with this conclusion, since only two studies provided eligible data. Perceived social support failed to show a significant impact upon mortality. The findings suggest that people who engage socially and report frequent contacts with friends and family live longer.     

Prevalence of Low Physical Activity and its Relation to Social Environment in Deprived Areas in the London Borough of Redbridge

Achieving adequate levels of physical activity (PA) is important to maintain health and prevent chronic disease. The costs of inadequate physical activity to the NHS have been estimated at over a billion pounds annually. While socio-demographic characteristics such as age, sex and ethnicity have been reported to be associated with different levels of PA, there is evidence that people??s social environments may also be important in encouraging a physically active lifestyle. The objective of this paper is to describe associations between the social environment and physical activity among the poorer communities in an outer London Borough, when other socio-demographic factors are controlled for. A household survey was carried out in six poorer neighbourhoods in Redbridge in 2008 as part of a wider health needs assessment. The questionnaire included questions allowing estimation of levels of physical activity as well as extent of social environment [social network score (SNS) and social support score (SSS)]. A random sample of households was taken and a total of 799 completed responses from over 16 year old were obtained. The association between physical activity and the social environment controlling for socio-demographic characteristics was estimated using a logistic nested model. Higher SNS was significantly associated with younger age, Black ethnicity, higher education level, higher household income and higher levels of PA in bivariate analyses. Higher SSS was positively associated with Indian ethnicity, higher household income and area of residence. In multivariate analyses higher levels of PA were significantly associated with wider social networks and stronger social support, educational level and marital status. Despite its limitations, our findings confirm that the relationship between low physical activity and weak social networks and low social support, observed in general population studies, also occurs in deprived communities in London. The relationship merits further exploration given the limited evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to promote physical activity.     

Effects of Minority Status and Perceived Discrimination on Mental Health

Based in a minority social stress perspective, this study uses propensity score matching techniques to assess the impact of self-reported discrimination on mental health. Using a sample of 14,609 young adults from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult  Health, we explore whether the effects of discrimination vary across status characteristics (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and body mass), including both majority and minority populations. Further we investigate the heterogeneous effects of discrimination across propensity scores, or probabilities of experiencing discrimination. We find that self-reported discrimination increases the average perceived stress score and depressive symptoms score by roughly ½ standard deviation, but is not related to anxiety. Further, our results show that while all groups are negatively affected by discrimination, the magnitude of the impact is largest among groups with the lowest propensity scores.     

Stress Coping Strategies,Perceived Organizational Support and Marital Status as Predictors of Work–Life Balance among Nigerian Bank Employees

The study examined stress coping strategies, perceived organizational support and marital status as predictors of work–life balance. Two hundred and fifty-four bank workers participated in the study. Results of the regression analyses showed that stress coping strategies was a significant predictor of work–life balance (β = .34, p = .000) and contributed 11 % variance in work–life balance after controlling for the effects of gender, age and education. The result further revealed that perceived organizational support significantly predicted workers’ work–life balance (β = .22, p = .001) and contributed additional 4 % variance in work–life balance after the effects of gender, age, education and coping strategies have been controlled. Marital status was not related to work–life balance. The findings of the study were discussed based on Nigerian socio-economic realities. The implications of the findings to work–life policies and practices were discussed.     

Loneliness Literacy Scale: Development and Evaluation of an Early Indicator for Loneliness Prevention

To develop and evaluate the Loneliness Literacy Scale for the assessment of short-term outcomes of a loneliness prevention programme among Dutch elderly persons. Scale development was based on evidence from literature and experiences from local stakeholders and representatives of the target group. The scale was pre-tested among 303 elderly persons aged 65 years and over. Principal component analysis and internal consistency analysis were used to affirm the scale structure, reduce the number of items and assess the reliability of the constructs. Linear regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between the literacy constructs and loneliness. The four constructs “motivation”, “self-efficacy”, “perceived social support” and “subjective norm” derived from principal component analysis captured 56 % of the original variance. Cronbach’s coefficient α was above 0.7 for each construct. The constructs “self-efficacy” and “perceived social support” were positively and “subjective norm” was negatively associated with loneliness. To our knowledge this is the first study developing a short-term indicator for loneliness prevention. The indicator contributes to the need of evaluating public health interventions more close to the intervention activities.     

The relation of social support, connectedness, and collective self-esteem to the psychological well-being of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth

The present study extended the research on the mental health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth by testing the relationship of social support, social connectedness, and collective self-esteem to psychological well-being in a sample of 218 LGB youth. Perceived social support significantly predicted psychological well-being subscales; social connectedness and collective self-esteem contributed significantly to the psychological well-being of the LGB participants when controlling for perceived social support. Age moderated the relations between several of the social and psychological well-being variables. Results of the study suggest that helping professionals working with LGB youth consider assessment of the youth's sense of connectedness to those around him/her and esteem related to LGB group membership in addition to assessing general social support.     

Invisible Scars: Comparing the Mental Health of LGB and Heterosexual Intimate Partner Violence Survivors

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects countless women and men in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) as well as heterosexual relationships, but few studies have examined how such abuse is associated with the mental health of LGB victims. The present study addresses this issue using data from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey to examine differences in depression and anxiety among IPV victims in LGB and heterosexual partnerships. The findings indicate LGB IPV victims are much more likely to have a history of depression (OR 1.70, p < .05) and anxiety (OR 1.70, p < .05) than heterosexual victims. These differences are slightly mediated by the victim’s perceived emotional support but not the type of abuse experienced. Our findings accentuate the need for greater inclusion of LGB persons in the IPV and mental health discourse, as well as the importance of social support for IPV victims. Policy implications for members of the LGB community are discussed.     

Adolescent Same-Sex Attraction and Mental Health: The Role of Stress and Support

This study draws on the social stress model from the sociology of mental health to examine the impact of same-sex attraction on depressed mood and suicidal tendencies. Specifically, we hypothesize that across multiple contexts, adolescents with same-sex attractions are likely to experience more social stress and less social support than heterosexual adolescents. In turn, these experiences increase the likelihood of negative mental health outcomes. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 11,911), we find that adolescents with same-sex attraction are more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to report depressed mood and suicidal tendencies. Moreover, stress and social support were found to mediate a substantial part of the relationship between same-sex attraction and depressed mood. In addition, stress and social support mediated about one third of the relationship between same-sex attraction and suicidal tendencies. These findings give strong support for the social stress model. We conclude with a discussion of the role that alienation plays in same-sex-attracted adolescent mental health.