When are dysphoric individuals distressing to others and vice versa? Effects of friendship, similarity, and interaction task

Perceived partial social integration, levels of distress and resilience, and COVID-19 vaccine rejection of Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel

Introduction

The present study examines the role of perceived partial social integration (PPSI) in determining the rejection of the COVID-19 vaccine of Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel.

Methods

The research hypotheses are examined using a relatively large sample of the Israeli public, including 208 Arab and 600 Jewish adults, who have responded to an anonymous questionnaire pertaining, among other issues, to partial social integration and the individual level of vaccine uptake.

Results

Higher levels of PPSI were found to be associated with higher levels of vaccine rejection, in both Jewish and Arab samples. The Arab minority group regards themselves as less socially integrated into the Israeli society and therefore rejects the COVID-19 vaccine to a greater extent than the majority group. The Arab respondents expressed a higher level of psychological distress and a lower level of resilience compared with the Jewish participants. The perceived partial social integration score significantly predicted the levels of distress and resilience of the Jewish but not the Arab sample.

Discussion

The study indicates that increasing the vaccination rates depends more substantially on trust in the authorities than on leveraging greater pressure on individuals that reject the vaccine. Increased trust in the authorities and regarding oneself as an integral component of society are two vital conditions for vaccine acquiescence. Insufficient social integration is a major reason for vaccine rejection.

Partial Social Integration as a Predictor of COVID-19 Vaccine Rejection and Distress Indicators

Partial social integration refers to the perceived exclusion of individuals or groups, from full participation in their society. The current study claims that perceived partial social integration (PPSI) constitutes a substantial predictor of the rejection of the COVID-19 vaccine, a significant mediator of the impact of demographic variables (such as age and level of income) on this vaccine rejection, and an important predictor of indices of psychological distress during pandemic times. Previous publications show that although vaccines constitute a very efficient means for countering pandemics, vaccine hesitancy is a prevalent public response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study is one of a few studies examining the impact of psychological variables on the actual behavior of vaccine rejection rather than on the cognitive element of vaccine hesitancy. A sample of 600 Israeli Jewish adults responded in February 2022 to an anonymous questionnaire exploring, among other issues, the (PPSI), the individual level of vaccine uptake, and the level of distress of these individuals. Path analyses of the variables predicted by PPSI indicated the following results: (a) PPSI score negatively predicted vaccine uptake level and significantly mediated the effects of age and family income on the level of vaccination. (b) PPSI levels significantly predicted higher levels of anxiety, depression, and a sense of danger and negatively predicted societal resilience. The discussion elaborates the contention that the PPSI is a substantial cause of psychological distress and in compliance with the pandemic vaccination guidelines, despite the potential health risk involved.

International Students’ Cross-Cultural Adjustment: Social Selection or Social Influence?

International education provides students with an opportunity to develop new social networks while they fit in to the new culture. In a three-wave longitudinal study, we investigated how social networks and psychological adjustment coevolve within a group of international students enrolled in a coursework degree at the tertiary level. Using the Stochastic Actor-Oriented Model (SAOM), we identified the occurrences of social selection based on the levels of psychological and sociocultural adjustment. More specifically, students tended to deselect classmates who were dissimilar in their level of psychological adjustment and to befriend those who differed in their levels of sociocultural adjustment. In contrast, little evidence was found to suggest that features of social networks influenced students’ adjustment. Potential applications of this new method to future acculturation research are suggested.

Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms and the "Tightknittedness" of Friendship Groups

Adolescents with depression have lower peer status overall, but tend to befriend each other. We examined the "tightknittedness" of their friendship groups by testing whether adolescent friendship groups' average levels of or variability in internalizing symptoms predict group cohesiveness. We used four waves (9th-12th grades) of survey and social network data on 3,013 friendship groups from the PROmoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience study. Friendship groups with higher average depressive symptoms were less cohesive; groups with higher average anxiety symptoms had greater reciprocity. Groups with greater variability in depressive symptoms had greater density; variability in anxiety symptoms was not consistently associated with cohesion. The friendship groups of depressed adolescents appear less cohesive than the "typical" adolescent friendship group.

Depressive symptoms are associated with social isolation in face-to-face interaction networks

Individuals with depressive symptoms are more likely to be isolated in their social networks, which can further increase their symptoms. Although social interactions are an important aspect of individuals' social lives, little is known about how depressive symptoms affect behavioral patterns in social interaction networks. This article analyzes the effect of depressive symptoms on social interactions in two empirical settings (N_total = 123, N_{dyadic relations} = 2,454) of students spending a weekend together in a remote camp house. We measured social interactions between participants with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) nametags. Prior to the weekend, participants were surveyed on their depressive symptoms and friendship ties. Using state-of-the-art social network analysis methods, we test four preregistered hypotheses. Our results indicate that depressive symptoms are associated with (1) spending less time in social interaction, (2) spending time with similarly depressed others, (3) spending time in pair-wise interactions rather than group interactions but not with (4) spending relatively less time with friends. By "zooming in" on face-to-face social interaction networks, these findings offer new insights into the social consequences of depressive symptoms.

Birds of a Feather Want to Talk Together: The Impact of Depressive Symptoms on Initial Stages of Friendship Formation in Older Adolescence

Introduction: Peer relationships play a vital role in adolescents’ lives and are considered to be especially critical for youth who experience elevated depressive symptoms. Unfortunately, depressed youth tend to have difficulties with existing friendships (e.g., fewer and lower quality friendships), which may exacerbate their symptoms. Little is known, however, about how depressed youth approach the initial stages of friendship formation, which may have implications for the types of social support they can access.

Method: Using a conversation task designed to build intimacy, older adolescents (N = 228, M age = 19.54 years) with and without elevated depressive symptoms interacted with a previously unknown, same-gender partner.

Results: Results suggested that adolescents with elevated symptoms experienced interactions differently (e.g., speculated more about their conversation partner and thought their partner was speculating more about them, experienced more negative affect) than nondepressed peers. The depression status of the potential friend also mattered, as participants paired with partners of similar emotional adjustment status wanted to talk more and felt closer to one another than did mismatched partners.

Discussion: Findings underscore that depressive symptoms impact even the earliest stages of friendship formation. From the perspective of interpersonal theories of depression, implications for bolstering depressed adolescents’ relationships are discussed.

Caregivers' Support Network Characteristics Associated with Viral Suppression among HIV Care Recipients

Informal care receipt is associated with health outcomes among people living with HIV. Less is known about how caregivers' own social support may affect their care recipient's health. We examined associations between network characteristics of informal caregivers and HIV viral suppression among former or current drug using care recipients. We analyzed data from 258 caregiver-recipient dyads from the Beacon study, of whom 89% of caregivers were African American and 59% were female. In adjusted logistic regression analysis, care recipients had lower odds of being virally suppressed if their caregiver was female, was caring for youth involved in the criminal justice system, and had network members who used illicit drugs. Caregivers' greater numbers of non-kin in their support network was positively associated with viral suppression among care recipients. The findings reveal contextual factors affecting ART outcomes and the need for interventions to support caregivers, especially HIV caregiving women with high-risk youth.

Feeling Attractive in the Wake of Breast Cancer: Optimism Matters, and So Do Interpersonal Relationships

Survey data from 63 married (or living as married) breast cancer patients (Stage I, n = 25; Stage II, n = 30; Stage III, n =8) provided evidence that both dispositional optimism and interpersonal factors may influence how physically attractive breast cancer patients feel. Optimistic women reported more frequently agreeing with their partners, higher levels of social support, and more feelings of physical attractiveness. Beyond the effects of optimism, relationship agreement and global perceptions of social support accounted for significant variance in feelings of attractiveness. Tests for mediation further suggested that more optimistic breast cancer patients feel more attractive because their dispositions promote perceptions that support is available in general and from their marital partners in particular. Agreement in the marital relationship appears to influence feelings of attractiveness, in large part, because relationship agreement contributes to generalized perceptions of available support.

Informal HIV Caregiver Proxy Reports of Care Recipients' Treatment Adherence: Relationship Factors Associated with Concordance with Recipients' Viral Suppression

To explore the role of informal caregivers in adherence, we compared adherence reports by caregivers to those of care recipients. We identified individual-level and relationship factors associated with agreement between caregivers' reports of recipients' adherence and assessed viral suppression. Participants were care recipients, who were on ART and had ever injected drugs, and their caregivers (N = 258 dyads). Nearly three-fourths of caregivers' reports of recipients' ART adherence agreed with recipients' viral suppression status. Agreement was associated with recipient age and expressing affection or gratitude to the caregiver, caregiver's having been close to someone who died of HIV/AIDS, and caregiver's fear of caregiving-related HIV (re)infection, while it was negatively associated with recipient's limited physical functioning. Our findings support the utility of caregiver proxy reports of care recipients' ART adherence and suggest ways to identify and promote HIV caregiver attention to and support of this vulnerable population's ART adherence.

Studying the neurobiology of human social interaction: Making the case for ecological validity

With this commentary we make the case for an increased focus on the ecological validity of the measures used to assess aspects of human social functioning. Impairments in social functioning are seen in many types of psychopathology, negatively affecting the lives of psychiatric patients and those around them. Yet the neurobiology underlying abnormal social interaction remains unclear. As an example of human social neuroscience research with relevance to biological psychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology, this commentary discusses published experimental studies involving manipulation of the human brain serotonin system that included assessments of social behavior. To date, these studies have mostly been laboratory-based and included computer tasks, observations by others, or single-administration self-report measures. Most laboratory measures used so far inform about the role of serotonin in aspects of social interaction, but the relevance for real-life interaction is often unclear. Few studies have used naturalistic assessments in real life. We suggest several laboratory methods with high ecological validity as well as ecological momentary assessment, which involves intensive repeated measures in naturalistic settings. In sum, this commentary intends to stimulate experimental research on the neurobiology of human social interaction as it occurs in real life.

Co-rumination mediates contagion of internalizing symptoms within youths' friendships

Peer contagion of internalizing symptoms was examined within youths' friendships over 6 months. Children (Grades 3 and 5) and adolescents (Grades 7 and 9) paired in 274 reciprocal same-sex friendship dyads completed measures of depressive and anxiety symptoms, co-rumination, and self-disclosure. Depression contagion was present for all youth, and anxiety contagion was found in the sample of girls and older boys. Although normative self-disclosure did not mediate the contagion effects, co-rumination mediated the depression contagion effect for adolescents and the anxiety contagion effect in the sample of girls and older boys. Implications for interventions with youth at risk for developing internalizing symptoms are discussed.

Informal care and reciprocity of support are associated with HAART adherence among men in Baltimore, MD, USA

Research suggests gender differences in interpersonal relationship factors important to health. This study examined relationship factors associated with HAART adherence among men. The sample (n = 154) comprised 95% African Americans and 48% current illicit drug users; 83% reported HAART adherence. Results revealed adherence was associated with comfort level taking HAART in the presence of close friends, and the interaction between informal care (having someone to care for oneself when sick in bed) and reciprocity of support. Among those with informal care, higher reciprocity of support to caregivers was associated with greater adherence. Promoting men's reciprocity of support to their caregivers and enhancing peer norms of medication taking are important strategies for improving men's adherence. The findings complement previous findings on relationship factors adversely associated with women's adherence. Results suggest the merit of interventions targeting men and their informal caregivers, particularly main partners, and gender-specific, contextually tailored strategies to promote HAART adherence.

Influence of parental depressive symptoms on adopted toddler behaviors: an emerging developmental cascade of genetic and environmental effects

This study examined the developmental cascade of both genetic and environmental influences on toddlers' behavior problems through the longitudinal and multigenerational assessment of psychosocial risk. We used data from the Early Growth and Development Study, a prospective adoption study, to test the intergenerational transmission of risk through the assessment of adoptive mother, adoptive father, and biological parent depressive symptoms on toddler behavior problems. Given that depression is often chronic, we control for across-time continuity and find that in addition to associations between adoptive mother depressive symptoms and toddler externalizing problems, adoptive father depressive symptoms when the child is 9 months of age were associated with toddler problems and associated with maternal depressive symptoms. Findings also indicated that a genetic effect may indirectly influence toddler problems through prenatal pregnancy risk. These findings help to describe how multiple generations are linked through genetic (biological parent), timing (developmental age of the child), and contextual (marital partner) pathways.

Exploring the nature of stigmatising beliefs about depression and help-seeking: implications for reducing stigma

Background

In-depth and structured evaluation of the stigma associated with depression has been lacking. This study aimed to inform the design of interventions to reduce stigma by systematically investigating community perceptions of beliefs about depression according to theorised dimensional components of stigma.

Methods

Focus group discussions were held with a total of 23 adults with personal experience of depression. The discussions were taped, transcribed and thematically analysed.

Results

Participants typically reported experiencing considerable stigma, particularly that others believe depressed people are responsible for their own condition, are undesirable to be around, and may be a threat. Participants expressed particular concerns about help-seeking in the workplace and from mental health professionals.

Conclusion

Findings indicate that interventions to reduce the stigma of depression should target attributions of blame; reduce avoidance of depressed people; label depression as a 'health condition' rather than 'mental illness'; and improve responses of help-sources (i.e. via informing professionals of client fears).

Maintaining support in people with paralysis: what works?

Social support is a protective factor for well-being in the risk-and-resilience framework, yet people with paralysis report lower levels of support compared to people without paralysis. Rather than examine deficits, in this study, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with individuals who report high levels of social support to examine what sustains this protective factor. Because relationship equity affects social support, the authors also examined this. They selected participants who reported high levels of support from a survey sample of 299 U.S. adults experiencing some form of paralysis. Seventeen participants completed the in-depth interview. The importance of reciprocity, maintaining autonomy, and a positive outlook for sustaining support were themes identified in the content analysis. In their responses, people with high support emphasized that they do all they can to affect their environment positively, so that ideally, the only assistance that they cannot provide themselves is successfully obtained from others.

Interpersonal appraisals of emotionally distressed persons by anxious and dysphoric individuals

Coyne [J. Abnorm. Psychol. 85 (1976a) 186; Psychiatry 29 (1976b) 28] first reported that depressed persons were negatively appraised interpersonally by interaction partners. The purpose of the current study was to replicate previous findings extending Coyne's theory to anxious individuals and to assess how anxiety and depression of the raters may affect these ratings. Anxious, dysphoric, and control participants watched a video of an actor portraying anxious, depressed, or neutral affect (n = 208). Results indicated that the actor portraying depressed affect was assessed more negatively than the actor portraying anxious affect who, in turn, was assessed more negatively than the actor portraying neutral affect. However, anxious and dysphoric participants did not differ from control participants in their ratings of the videos.

The association of depression and perceptions of interpersonal relationships in patients with diabetes

OBJECTIVE

Using an instrument assessing interpersonal relationships in patients with diabetes, we hypothesized that a change in depression would be associated with a change in patients' perceptions of themselves and others in relationships.

METHODS

Instruments assessing attachment, depression, and demographics were administered twice to 367 patients with diabetes in an HMO primary care setting, 10 months apart. We assessed change in capacity to rely on others (model of other) and to feel worthy of attention (model of self) according to depression change categories (unchanged, decreased, and increased depression).

RESULTS

The degree to which patients reported being able to rely on others increased with a reduction in depressive symptoms (P = .02). The degree to which patients endorsed a sense that they were not worthy of attention in relationships increased with an increase in depressive symptoms (P = .02).

CONCLUSION

A change in depressive symptoms is associated with a change in perception of interpersonal relationships in patients with diabetes.

Social support among HIV positive injection drug users: implications to integrated intervention for HIV positives

The study compared social support networks of HIV seropositive versus seronegative injection drug users (IDUs). Participants were 635 low income African Americans; 47% were HIV seropositive (of whom 17% had AIDS), 45% female, and 45% current drug users. A social network methodology elicited structural, functional, and relational network components. After controlling for confounders, HIV seropositive compared with HIV seronegative IDUs had larger support networks, including more females, kin and sources of instrumental assistance, and marginally more sources of emotional support, though they were less likely to have a sex partner. There was no difference between HIV status and number of active drug users in support networks. Results suggest that HIV seropositive IDUs had mobilized a range of network support but that they also relied on drug using social influences. Findings may have implications to the development of integrated HIV prevention and care intervention that builds on HIV seropositives' natural support structures.

Negative affect and interpersonal rejection among prison inmates in a therapeutic community: a social relations analysis

The authors used D. A. Kenny's social relations model to examine J. C. Coyne's interpersonal theory of depression among a clinical sample of well-acquainted prison inmates. Members of 12 therapy groups (N = 142) diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder completed a self-report measure of depression and anxiety and indicated their desire to interact with other group members. There was both consensus about which group members were rejected and individual differences in the participants reported desire for future interaction with other group members. Those reporting high levels of depressive negative affect were most likely to be rejected. Those lowest in positive affect indicated the least desire for future interaction with others.

Intimacy patterns and relationship satisfaction of women with eating problems and the mediating effects of depression, trait anxiety and social anxiety

The association between eating problems; and intimacy and relationship styles was examined. Young adult females (n = 360) completed the Adult Attachment Style (AAS), questionnaire; questions on satisfaction with intimacy; the Sexual Attitude Scale; items on sexual avoidance; a set of six descriptions for mother, friend, and partner; and measures of depression, general anxiety, social anxiety, and eating problems. Women with greater eating problems described more difficulties in intimate relationships including less satisfaction with closeness, more discomfort in close intimate relationships, and less positive descriptions of friend and mother. When depression, general anxiety, and social anxiety were entered first in a regression, intimacy measures no longer added unique variance. However, public self-consciousness predicted over and above general affect and social anxiety measures. Results were consistent with a mediator model in which intimacy difficulties for women with eating problems are explained by depression, trait anxiety, and public self-consciousness.