Browsing by Subject "Social Support"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Beyond Social Support: Spiritual Support as a Novel Design Dimension in Sociotechnical Systems
    (2020-12) Smith, C. Estelle
    For people facing life-threatening physical and/or mental illness, matters of spirituality or religion often assume a role of elevated importance in their lives. However, spirituality is an understudied topic in Social Computing, and has largely been omitted or minimized in research narratives and trajectories related to online health. Taking a human-centered design approach that seeks to honor people's core values and beliefs, this dissertation contributes an empirically-derived theoretical perspective that views spirituality as a crucial underlying dimension in sociotechnical systems for online health and social support, such as Online Health Communities (OHCs). Because of their widespread adoption and ability to provide users with social support, OHCs are a topic of prominent interest in Human-Computer Interaction and Social Computing. OHCs have been studied across a variety of online spaces, ranging from disease-specific niches on larger social media platforms, to specialized platforms designed specifically for patients and caregivers--such as CaringBridge, a Minnesota-based nonprofit OHC that served over 300,000 people daily in 2019, including 40 million unique users from 237 countries. Two studies in this dissertation were completed in collaboration with CaringBridge, while the third presents Flip*Doubt, a novel prototypical system for crowd-powered cognitive reappraisal. Whereas prior work in OHCs has focused on conventional support categories, the first study provides a content analysis and survey of CaringBridge users that, together, quantitatively distinguish ``prayer support'' as an independent category of crucial importance to users. Because prayer indicates a deeper set of beliefs/values that cannot be captured quantitatively, the second study involves qualitative focus groups with CaringBridge stakeholders. This study contributes a definition of ``spiritual support,'' along with its design implications in OHCs. In particular, one implication is that designers should consider technical mechanisms to provide users with assistance with supportive communication. Thus, the final study of this dissertation, a field deployment of Flip*Doubt, can inform the development of future AI/ML-based systems in OHCs for mental health. All together, these contributions help to shift the lens through which we view social support online, and to guide future work towards creating systems that serve the deepest needs of users.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Impact of Acculturative Stress on Marital Distress among Middle Eastern Immigrants: Measuring Social Support as a Moderator
    (2016-07) Dadras, Iman
    Immigration is a significant life transition, which impacts family dynamics at multiple levels. Using hierarchical multiple regression, the present study examined 132 Middle Eastern married immigrants` experiences of the association between socio-demographic characteristics and acculturative stress and between acculturative stress, social support, and marital distress. Via online and paper-pencil surveys, participants completed demographic questions, the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) (Busby et al., 1995), the Social, Attitudinal, Familial, and Environmental (SAFE) Scale (Mena, Padilla, & Maldonado, 1987), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988). Results revealed that participants with longer years of residence in the U.S. and higher income levels reported less acculturative stress. Social support moderated the impact of acculturative distress on marital distress and participants with medium and high levels of social support experienced less acculturative stress compared to participants with low level of social support. Recommendations for future research and clinical interventions that facilitate Middle Eastern immigrant couples’ cultural adjustment are provided.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Influence of Parenting Stress and Social Support on Parenting Behavior during a Preventative Parenting Education Program for Enhancing School Readiness
    (2015-08) Clayton, Kate
    The purpose of this study was to examine if parents with increased levels of risk (e.g. increased parenting stress and lower perceived social support) and less developed parenting behaviors prior to the intervention would show more change in key parenting behaviors (e.g. parent knowledge and parent-child language interactions) over the course of the intervention. Forty-seven parent-child dyads participated. Participants were recruited through a larger parent study investigating the overall efficacy of the intervention. All participants were English speaking. The majority of families were living below the poverty line. A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest within-subjects intervention design was employed to evaluate the extent to which elevated parenting stress levels or low levels of social support moderated either a) increases in parenting knowledge or b) increases in CT for parents who participated in the College Bound Babies parenting education program. Dependent variables included change in frequency of parent-child conversational-turns and change in parenting knowledge. Data were collected using the Language ENvironmental Analysis (LENA) system in the participant's natural home environment and parenting knowledge was measured using the Parenting Knowledge and Practices Questionnaire, a self-report measure. Moderator analyses indicated that elevated levels of parenting stress or lower levels of perceived social support did not moderate change in parent-child language interactions or change in parenting knowledge for participants regardless of baseline levels of parenting knowledge or baseline level of parent-child conversational turns. Directions for future research and implications of non-significant findings are discussed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Lifetime Adversities, Risk, Resilience and Family Cohesion Among a National Sample of Latinx Immigrants Living in the U.S.
    (2019-05) Cooper, Daniel
    Background: The research literature provides strong evidence of the adverse impact of cumulative stress on individual and family life. The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the construct validity of a cumulative measure of lifetime adversities and (b) assess the moderating effects of several cultural risk (acculturation stress, perceived discrimination) and protective factors (social support, ethnic identity) on the relationship between cumulative lifetime adversities and family cohesion among U.S. Latinx immigrants. Method: Data came from a cross-sectional secondary dataset, called the HCHS – SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study. The sample (N = 3,632) was identified using stratified random probability sampling in four of the largest Latinx metropolitan areas: the Bronx, San Diego, Chicago, and Miami. Six Latinx subgroups were included in this study: Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans, Dominicans, South Americans, and Central Americans. Results: Results from a confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor model of cumulative lifetime adversities, including childhood trauma, current stress, and chronic stress. Invariance testing suggested that the measure functioned equivalently across the six Latinx subgroups. Results from a latent moderation analysis suggested that social support buffered the association between cumulative lifetime adversities and family cohesion; whereas discrimination exacerbated the association between cumulative lifetime adversities and family cohesion. Unexpectedly, acculturation stress buffered the association between cumulative lifetime adversities and family cohesion. Several potential explanations are discussed. Conclusions: Results can be used to inform the development of mental health interventions and prevention programs tailored to the specific needs of Latinx immigrant populations exposed to adversity and cultural stressors. Implications for the immigrant paradox are also discussed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Low income women‟s expectations, needs, and desires for social support in the postpartum period: a feasibility study.
    (2012-02) Uban, Nicolle Marie
    The postpartum period represents a significant transition in women's lives. This critical period of adjustment is characterized by physical, emotional and psychological stressors that impact women's experiences, adaptation and health and wellness. Common stressors in the puerperal period include: the transition to motherhood and associated role change and role stress; physical stressors such as hormonal fluctuations, altered sleep, and pain; and, psychological stressors including interpersonal relationship challenges, self esteem and self confidence issues, and postpartum depression (PPD). Social support has been identified as a factor contributing to women's experiences in the postpartum period (Beck, 2001; Dennis, 2003). Lack of social support is also a predictor of functional status problems in the puerperal period (McVeigh, 1997). There is a body of noteworthy literature examining the association between social support interventions provided by health professionals, and negative affect in the new mother (Armstrong, Fraser, Dadds et al., 1999; O'Hara, Stuart, Gorman, & Wenzel, 2000). Critical gaps in maternal support needs have been identified in the literature and indicate that high risk populations of women might benefit from targeted social support services and interventions (Armstrong, Fraser, Dadds et al., 1999; Dennis, 2003; Shaw, Levitt, Wong et al., 2006). The purpose of this feasibility study was to examine and describe low-income postpartum women's perceptions, expectations, and desires for social support and the feasibility and acceptability of a postpartum doula as a vehicle for social support services in the postpartum period. This study utilized focus groups, a social support survey and a socio-demographic survey for data collection. The final sample included a total of 30 participants. First, a pilot test with one participant was conducted to trial the focus group questions and user-friendliness of the social support and demographic surveys. This was followed by three focus groups: Group 1 with nine participants; Group 2 had fifteen participants; and Group 3 had five participants. Recruitment of participants was conducted by a community doula program in the Upper Midwest that has an established priority to serve low-income women.Four categories emerged during the content analysis process identifying types of support that were most important to participants in the postpartum period and areas where they experienced gaps in support: (1) Functional support; (2) Physical support; (3) Educational/Informational support; and, (4) Emotional support/Presence. The findings from the social support survey confirmed this information, as well as identified deficits in the availability of individuals within their support networks to provide much needed support. Participants in this study had experience with birth doulas and expressed interest in postpartum doula care as a desirable method for providing individualized support to meet their needs and to fill deficits in their existing support systems. The findings from both the focus group analysis and the social support survey reiterate the importance of a broader social support network in low-income postpartum women's lives. This study adds to the existing body of research by laying out the foundational pieces for designing an effective intervention targeted to meet postpartum women's expectations, needs, and desires for social support in the postpartum period. Furthermore, the information from this study provides those providing support to new mothers with necessary information to expand current practices in the maternity care model to include targeted postpartum doula support interventions that may ultimately influence maternal outcomes. Additional research is indicated in order to determine the effectiveness of targeted, individualized, in-home social support interventions for women in the postpartum period.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Regulatory focus and social support: a dyadic perspective.
    (2008-12) Winterheld, Heike A.
    I used a regulatory focus theoretical framework to investigate social support exchanges as they unfolded between romantic partners in ongoing relationships. Regulatory focus theory proposes two fundamental motivational orientations: a prevention focus (which is concerned with safety and security), and a promotion focus (which is concerned with hopes and aspirations). The theory lends itself to understanding how different motivations of support providers and recipients might shape the quality of support transactions in different support-relevant domains (i.e., provision and perceptions of support in response to problems/distress versus support in response to goal achievement). I tested a series of theoretically-derived predictions regarding regulatory focus, support provision, and perceptions of support from romantic partners. Although the results revealed that certain situational factors appear to elicit or to facilitate the expression of people's chronic regulatory orientations during support transactions with their partners, these chronic regulatory tendencies typically transcended or outweighed the situational context. Importantly, chronic regulatory focus had both actor and partner effects when predicting support provision and support perceptions. Thus, this work highlights the intrinsically interpersonal, dyadic nature of social support processes and the importance of studying perceptions and behaviors of both partners. The degree to which people provide effective support, or respond favorably to enacted support, appears to depend on both the motivational orientations and related skills of both support providers and partners, and on how both partners relate to and interact with one another. The implications for furthering our understanding of the social support and the regulatory focus literatures will be discussed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The role of depression and social relationships in the intergenerational transmission of observed parenting.
    (2010-06) Coffino, Brianna Sue
    Using prospective, longitudinal, multimethod, and multireporter data, this study examined the role of depression and social relationships in the intergenerational (dis)continuity of observed parenting. Parenting was measured twice (at age 24 and 42 months) at parallel ages in each generation. Results indicated that parenting measured at 42 months related to measures of depression and social relationship indicators while parenting at 24 months generally did not. Using parenting measured at 42 months in both generations, there was a direct link in parenting across generations after accounting for continuities in depression both within and across generations but no mediation through depression. Both experiences of being parented and adolescent peer experiences appeared to independently influence the development of parenting behavior in the next generation. The findings provide support for the enduring effects of early parent-child experiences but suggest that relationships across childhood and adulthood contribute to individual differences in parenting.