Too much of a good thing: underprovision versus overprovision of partner support

Development and Initial Assessment of an Emotional Support Provision Training Intervention for Interpersonal Support Providers in the Context of Chronic Illness

This study reports on the development and pilot testing of an emotional support provision training intervention for interpersonal support providers to those with chronic illnesses. Using findings from a needs assessment in combination with existing theory and research, we created a training framework consisting of verbal person-centered message design, empathic listening, and communicated perspective-taking. Then, we recruited 282 individuals to participate in a pre-training questionnaire, the online training module, a post-training questionnaire, and a two-week post-training questionnaire. Outcome variables included emotional support knowledge, efficacy, and intentions, as well as general support efficacy, response efficacy, and quality. Repeated measures MANCOVA revealed significant increases from T1 to T2 for all variables of interest. These increases were sustained at T3 for emotional support knowledge and efficacy, and support provision response efficacy. Participants rated the training favorably and provided helpful suggestions for improvement. This study answers the call for more theoretically-grounded support interventions that not only assess theory in real-world settings, but also help people better their supportive communication skills.

How Does Enlistment Motivation Shape Organizational Commitment? The Role of Career Identity and Organizational Support

This study, based on the integrative model of commitment and motivation and organizational support theory, examined the mechanism of intrinsic and extrinsic enlistment motivation on three facets of organizational commitment. A three-wave field questionnaire survey was conducted among 1606 Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets from Chinese universities. The results showed that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation positively predicted affective commitment, normative commitment, and continuous commitment. The positive effect of intrinsic motivation was stronger than extrinsic motivation. However, the interactive effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation negatively predicted the three aspects of organizational commitment. Career identity mediated all the direct effects above. Moreover, organizational support moderated the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on career identity. When organizational support was low, the positive effect of intrinsic motivation on career identity was stronger; whereas, when organizational support was high, the positive effect of extrinsic motivation on career identity was stronger. Furthermore, extrinsic motivation and organizational support jointly moderated the effect of intrinsic motivation on career identity and the mediating effects between intrinsic motivation and the three facets of organizational commitment. Specifically, when extrinsic motivation and organizational support were low, the direct and mediating effects above were stronger.

Romantic attachment and support adequacy in new mothers

In the present research, we examined whether attachment anxiety and avoidance in support recipients were related to the extent to which social support received from a romantic partner matched the actual needs of the recipient. Two-hundred and forty-five first-time mothers, currently involved in romantic relationships, participated in study 1, in which perceptions of support were appraised over the previous month using self-reports. In study 2, we sought to replicate these findings using an experience sampling method to examine the association between attachment and momentary support perceptions in the daily life of mothers with babies (N = 40). Results indicated that high levels of attachment avoidance or anxiety in mothers were associated with negative appraisals of support matching. Receiving support which matched the needs of the mother (i.e., adequate support) was beneficial to mood, but not constructive to relationship satisfaction or perceptions of maternal efficacy.

Social Support Networks Among Black Caregivers of Persons With Memory Problems

Positive social support can predict health outcomes in populations that experience significant burdens, such as minority caregivers. The purpose of the current study was to detail the social network (SN) of 36 Black family caregivers (FCGs) for persons with memory problems (PWMP) and examine differences in SN support depending on FCG gender and relationship to the care recipient. Participants were recruited from the Alzheimer's family program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the local community. FCGs were categorized into adult children (ACH), grandchildren and in-law children, and friends and other relatives. FCGs described the amount of adequate support they receive for different types of support from their SN. Female FCGs reported higher levels of support overall, with the largest effect sizes including social (d = 0.63), emotional (d = 0.64), and financial (d = 0.38) support. The largest effect size comparison of caregiver relationship type was in social support, with the ACH group reporting the lowest levels of adequate social support compared to the other two groups (d = 0.48). Findings suggest that different types of Black FCGs face unique challenges depending on their gender and familial relationship to the care recipient. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 50(1), 22-29.].

Does perceived support moderate the link between acculturative stress and problematic eating behaviors? The role of family, significant other, and friend support

OBJECTIVE

Acculturative stress, often experienced by members of minority groups, is related to problematic eating behaviors. What remains poorly understood is the function of perceived social support in this link. This study evaluated the moderating role of perceived support from family, the significant other, and friends in the association between acculturative stress and problematic eating behaviors, including emotional eating, uncontrolled eating, and cognitive restraint eating.

METHOD

An online cross-sectional study was conducted with 497 Asian and Latinx college students using standardized questionnaires. Three hierarchical multivariable models were analyzed, with each eating behavior included as the outcome variable. Demographic variables (Step 1), general perceived stress (Step 2), and predictor variables (i.e., acculturative stress, perceived support; Step 3) were added using Method Enter. Interaction terms were entered using Method Stepwise (Step 4) to test for moderation effects.

RESULTS

As perceived family support increased, the magnitude of the link between acculturative stress and higher uncontrolled eating increased (p = .002). When perceived significant other support was higher, the magnitude of the relationship between acculturative stress and higher emotional eating increased (p = .02). Higher perceived friend support was directly related to reduced uncontrolled eating (p = .002).

DISCUSSION

This study highlights the heterogeneous effects of various sources of perceived support on the link between acculturative stress and problematic eating behaviors. Findings imply that problematic eating prevention and intervention programs might benefit from considering not only the acculturative stress experienced by racial/ethnic minority young adults but also the sources of support perceived.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE

Perceived support from family and the significant other increased the magnitude of the link between higher acculturative stress and increased problematic eating behaviors, whereas support from friends showed a direct relationship with reduced uncontrolled eating. The results highlight the nuanced functions of various sources of perceived social support and contribute to a deeper understanding of potential moderators in the relationship between acculturative stress and problematic eating behaviors among racial/ethnic minorities.

Differential Effects of Work and Family Support on the Relationship Between Surface Acting and Wellbeing: A Self-Determination Theory Approach

Surface acting-the management of emotional displays as part of a nurse's work role-is increasingly getting scholars' attention in organizational behavior. Previous research focused on the relationship between surface acting and outcomes (such as psychological well-being) on the basis of resource-centric theories, ignoring the subjective stance of surface acting provider. According to self-determination theory, surface acting affects an individual's well-being through stimulating autonomous or controlled work motivation. Taking nurses as the subjects, the current study proposed that surface acting would affect job satisfaction and further psychological well-being through nurses' controlled work motivation, and work and family support would moderate the above relationships in diverse directions. An online survey of n = 342 nurses working at a hospital in central China was conducted, evaluating surface acting, job satisfaction, psychological well-being, workplace support, and family support. Results indicated that surface acting negatively influenced nurses' psychological well-being through job satisfaction. In addition, the results highlighted the two-faced aspect of social support, in which work support positively moderated the relationships between surface acting, job satisfaction, and psychological well-being, while family support intensified the abovementioned relationships negatively. These findings have important implications for surface acting, social support research, and managerial practices.

Evidence of the Associations between Individual and Partner Autonomy Support and Physiological Stress in the Context of Conversations about Weight among Couples Who are Overweight or Obese during a 6-Month Intervention

The aim of the study was to examine the impact of supportive communication on acute physiological stress responses during weight-related conversations taking place throughout a couples' weight loss program. Participants were 47 married or cohabitating couples where each partner had a BMI of 25-40 kg/m². Couples were randomized as a dyad into a traditional weight loss program or a program that also included training in providing support to one's partner throughout the weight loss process. Structured conversations between partners about weight management were videotaped at baseline and 6 months. Participants provided saliva samples before and after the conversations, which were assayed for cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) to determine physiological stress and anxiety responses to conversations about weight. The results indicated that receiving support from one's partner when discussing weight-related issues was associated with greater physiological stress, as indicated by higher cortisol and sAA levels, whereas providing support to one's partner was associated with lower cortisol levels and higher sAA levels. The findings suggest that receiving support is not a universally positive experience, especially for populations facing health issues. The mixed findings for support provision align with previous studies identifying a negative association between affectionate communication and cortisol levels, as well as a positive association between sAA and anxiety and emotional arousal. The findings and their implications for understanding the physiological correlates of couples' conversations about weight are discussed.

Capitalisation, motivational effectiveness, and regulatory mode: a daily diary study of romantic partners

Positive events play an essential role in people's wellbeing. Capitalisation - disclosing such events to others - bolsters such salutary effects. To understand capitalisation-related motivational processes in romantic partners' daily lives, we adopted Higgins' motivational perspective; namely, that people's primary motivation is to feel effective with respect to Value (achieving the desired outcome), Truth (understanding what is true), and Control (managing what happens). We were particularly interested in clarifying how these aspects of effectiveness are reflected in people's daily positive experiences, their partners' responses to their disclosure, and the matching between the two. The role of subject's motivational regulatory mode (assessment vs. locomotion) in these processes was also examined. The results of a diary study of 83 couples showed that assessors (those with motivation to engage in critical evaluation) characterised their positive experiences as high on truth effectiveness but reported greater benefits from partner's responses focusing on control effectiveness. Locomotors (those with motivation to initiate action) were more likely to characterise their positive experiences as high on control effectiveness, but reported greater benefit from partner's responses focusing on value effectiveness. Finally, response mismatching, in particular an "under-focused" response (partner's response effectiveness focus < recipient's event-related motivational effectiveness focus) was rated as less beneficial.

Adult Children's Daily Experiences With Parental Advice: The Importance of Life Problems and Relationship Quality

OBJECTIVES

Parents often provide advice to their adult children during their everyday interactions. This study investigated young adult children's daily experiences with parental advice in U.S. families. Specifically, the study examined how receiving advice and evaluations of parental advice were associated with children's life problems, parent-child relationship quality, and daily mood.

METHODS

Young adult children (aged 18-30 years; participant N = 152) reported whether they received any advice and perceived any unwanted advice from each parent (parent N = 235) for 7 days using a daily diary design (participant-day N = 948). Adult children also reported their positive and negative mood on each interview day.

RESULTS

Results from multilevel models revealed that adult children who reported a more positive relationship with their parents were more likely to receive advice from the parent, whereas adult children who had a more strained relationship with their parents were more likely to perceive advice from the parent as unwanted. Receiving advice from the mother was associated with increased positive mood, whereas unwanted advice from any parent was associated with increased negative mood. Furthermore, the link between unwanted advice and negative mood varied by children's life problems and parent-child relationship quality.

DISCUSSION

Indeed, parental advice is not "the more the better," especially when the advice is unsolicited. This study highlights the importance of perceptions of family support for emerging adults' well-being.

The Impact of Perceived Social Support During Pregnancy on Postpartum Infant-Focused Anxieties: A Prospective Cohort Study of Mothers in Northern Jordan

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate the association between perceived social support during pregnancy and levels of anxiety among postpartum women using an anxiety-specific screening instrument.

Methods

Using a prospective cohort design, a two-stage methodology was conducted to collect data from women seeking maternal care at the King Abdullah University Hospital in northern Jordan. In the first stage, perceived social support was assessed among pregnant women using the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey. During the first six months after childbirth, postpartum women were contacted to complete the second stage, wherein their perceptions of infant-focused anxieties were assessed using the Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale. In our study, two types of infant-focused anxieties were investigated among a final sample of 419 mothers: infant safety and welfare anxieties and practical infant care anxieties.

Results

The results of multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that providing pregnant women with high levels of emotional support from close social networks (β= −0.08, p= 0.01) and perceiving informational support from health care providers (β= −0.71, p< 0.01) were protective factors for reducing the levels of postpartum anxiety concerning infant safety and welfare. Our findings also demonstrated that pregnant mothers who perceived high informational support from health care providers had a lower level of postpartum anxiety about practical infant care (β= −0.20, p< 0.01). In contrast, mothers who reported receiving high tangible support from close social networks during pregnancy had a significantly higher level of perceived anxiety concerning practical infant care after delivery (β= 0.13, p= 0.02).

Conclusion

Our study suggests that postpartum anxiety would be reduced if effective informational support were readily available for pregnant women. There is a clear need for building bridges between women, their families, and providers to distinguish the specific type and amount of support that should be provided to mothers during pregnancy.

How Do Partner Support, Psychological Aggression, and Attachment Anxiety Contribute to Distressed Couples' Relationship Outcomes?

Few studies have simultaneously looked at the relative contribution of positive and negative behaviors to understand relationship outcomes. This study examined the relative roles of perceived partner support and psychological aggression in two relationship outcomes-relationship satisfaction and the willingness to invest in the relationship-as well as the contribution of attachment anxiety as a moderator in 307 couples seeking relationship therapy. Path analyses revealed that perceived partner support was associated with individuals' own higher relationship satisfaction and willingness to invest in the relationship. Attachment anxiety moderated these associations. Perceived partner psychological aggression was not associated with relationship outcomes.

How Cancer Patients Benefit from Support Networks Offline and Online: Extending the Model of Structural-to-Functional Support

Although social support is an indispensable resource for coping with illness, the connections among the structural properties of one's support network, received social support from offline and online network members, and well-being are not well understood. This study aims to extend the model of structural-to-functional support by distinguishing offline from online support networks and identifying different pathways through which these two networks contribute to patients' emotional well-being. Using data from 386 cancer patients, the results revealed that offline and online support networks were associated with patients' emotional well-being via different types of received support. Specifically, offline support network size was negatively associated with their emotional well-being via informational support received offline. Online support network size was positively associated with their emotional well-being via emotional support received online.

Internal and External Resources and the Adjustment of Parents of Premature Infants

Studies have shown premature birth and infant hospitalization to be associated with increased levels of parental distress. Internal and external psychological resources have been found to mitigate distress among persons coping with stressful medical events. The current study evaluated psychological resources and distress in 87 parents (57 mothers and 30 fathers) to whom an infant was born prematurely and hospitalized in the NICU of a large tertiary medical center. Parents were administered standardized measures of internal (problem-solving skills) and external (total spousal support, adequacy of spousal support) psychological resources and of psychological distress (depression, posttraumatic symptoms, and mood). Findings indicated that higher levels of problem-solving skills and more adequate spousal support, but not total spousal support, were related to lower levels of parental distress. Adequacy of spousal support and parents' problem-solving skills accounted for 18% of the variance in overall mood and 13.8% of the variance in posttraumatic stress symptoms. A significant two-way interaction was found between adequacy of spousal support and problem-solving skills such that individuals with better problem-solving skills reported better overall mood independent of the adequacy of spousal support they receive. However, for individuals with poor problem-solving skills, the adequacy of the spousal support they receive was a significant factor in determining their overall mood. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the accessibility of these resources to assessment and their potential for change via existing intervention approaches.

Psychosocial experiences of concussed collegiate athletes: The role of emotional support in the recovery process

Objective: Understand from whom concussed football players seek and receive emotional support, and whether this support is associated with injury perceptions. Participants: Football players (N = 26) from three NCAA Division I programs. Methods: With approval from the head athletic trainer, concussed athletes (2017 season) completed short surveys within 4-6 days of diagnosis and when cleared to return. Results: Concussed athletes perceived their injury as a normal consequence of playing football, not serious, and reported little, if any, depression and anxiety. Athletes reported the most support from athletic trainers; the least from coaches and teammates. Emotional support was associated with fewer adverse psychosocial reactions, more sport-injury related growth, and greater intentions to report future concussion symptoms. Conclusion: Results from this pilot study suggest that emotional support during the concussion recovery process should be understood and fostered by university officials charged with the health and well-being of collegiate football players.

Ambivalence in the Early Years of Marriage: Impact on Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Relationship Processes

BACKGROUND

Marriage is associated with lower cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, but quality matters. Marriages characterized by ambivalent behaviors (containing both highly positive and highly negative behaviors concurrently) may not confer the same cardiovascular benefits as characterized by purely positive behavior. Ambivalence is assumed to take time to develop but couples in the early years of marriage may already exhibit ambivalent behaviors and thus be at increased risk for future cardiovascular events.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of spouse and own ambivalent behavior, the impact on interpersonal (i.e., responsiveness, disclosure, affective interactions) processes, and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) in individuals in the early years of marriage.

METHODS

In 84 young married couples, objective and subjective ambivalence, interpersonal functioning, and ABP over a 24-hr period were assessed.

RESULTS

As predicted, ambivalence developed early in marriage. Regarding interpersonal processes, spousal and own objective ambivalent behavior was associated with lower spousal responsiveness (p < .01), disclosure (p < .05), and more negative (p < .03) and less positive interactions (p < .001). Physiologically, ambivalent spousal behavior was associated with higher systolic blood pressure (p = .02) and higher diastolic blood pressure (p = .04). Measures of subjective ambivalence were congruent.

CONCLUSIONS

Early marriages already contain ambivalent behavior; in such cases, individuals may not receive the cardiovascular protection of a supportive marriage.

Desired, Expected, and Received Support: How Support Gaps Impact Affect Improvement and Perceived Stigma in the Context of Unintended Pregnancy

Unintended pregnancies constitute potentially stigmatizing moments that mobilize desires for several types of support from multiple members of people's networks. This study examines gaps among the support people desire, expect, and receive when coping with an unintended pregnancy. The support gaps people experience can influence their feelings about the pregnancy and their perceptions of stigma surrounding it. People (N = 203) who recently experienced an unintended pregnancy reported in an online survey the supportive communication they experienced from their romantic partner, mother/maternal figure, and close friend at the time of the unintended pregnancy. People experienced gaps among the amounts of support they desired, expected, and received, and the nature of gaps varied by the provider and type of support under consideration. Males and females perceived different gaps that varied according to their roles associated with an unintended pregnancy. The gaps people experienced contributed to their perceptions of stigma and affect improvement surrounding the pregnancy.

Attachment and social support in romantic dyads: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE

Taking a dyadic perspective, this systematic review examined the relationship between attachment constructs and differences in support behavior in romantic couples.

METHOD

Four databases were searched including PsychINFO, Embase, OVOID MEDLINE, and AMED. Out of 2,401 unique references, 43 met the study inclusion criteria.

RESULTS

The review findings offer validation for an attachment-based model of support processes in couples. Maladaptive support behaviors were more likely to occur when one or both members of a romantic dyad had an insecure attachment. Individuals with an avoidant or anxious attachment were more likely to provide poor quality support, and when receiving support, to interpret it in a negative manner.

CONCLUSION

We recommend therapeutic interventions to help individuals with insecure attachments to follow more adaptive ways of support seeking, so social relationships are more able to offer a buffering effect against the development of mental health problems.

Count Your Calories and Share Them: Health Benefits of Sharing mHealth Information on Social Networking Sites

This study investigates the relationship between sharing tracked mobile health (mHealth) information online, supportive communication, feedback, and health behavior. Based on the Integrated Theory of mHealth, our model asserts that sharing tracked health information on social networking sites benefits users' perceptions of their health because of the supportive communication they gain from members of their online social networks and that the amount of feedback people receive moderates these associations. Users of mHealth apps (N = 511) completed an online survey, and results revealed that both sharing tracked health information and receiving feedback from an online social network were positively associated with supportive communication. Network support both corresponded with improved health behavior and mediated the association between sharing health information and users' health behavior. As users received greater amounts of feedback from their online social networks, however, the association between sharing tracked health information and health behavior decreased. Theoretical implications for sharing tracked health information and practical implications for using mHealth apps are discussed.

Perceived and Received Dimensional Support: Main and Stress-Buffering Effects on Dimensions of Burnout

Social support is an adaptive resource associated with lower levels of burnout in sport. The effects of social support on burnout have typically been demonstrated through (1) a main effects model (direct negative associations between social support and burnout) and (2) a stress-buffering model (social support buffering the negative effects of stress on burnout). While both models provide insights into functional adaptations to burnout and stress in sport, evidence for significant main and stress-buffering effects are inconsistent. Reasons for this is include: (1) testing of a singular perspective of support in empirical research, and (2) a lack of specificity when analyzing social support and burnout (e.g., adoption of global-level analyses). To address this, the purpose of the study was to test differing perspectives of social support (perceived availability of support and received support) in regards to the main and stress-buffering effects of dimensions of social support (emotional, esteem, informational, and tangible) on dimensions of burnout (reduced sense of accomplishment, devaluation, emotional and physical exhaustion). Cross-sectional data were collected from 222 athletes. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses revealed that: (1) higher levels of stress were associated with higher levels of burnout (all dimensions); (2) higher levels of perceived availability of support were associated with lower levels of reduced sense of accomplishment and devaluation (with the exception of perceived availability of emotional support upon devaluation), and (3) perceived availability of emotional support buffered the negative effects of high stress upon devaluation. There were no significant main or interactive effects for any dimensions of received support. The significant interaction suggests that higher levels of perceived availability of emotional support may result in a functional adaptation to higher stress such that individuals may be protected from higher levels of devaluation of sport.

An Empirical Investigation of Factors Affecting Perceived Quality and Well-Being of Children Using an Online Child Helpline

Child helplines provide free, accessible, and confidential support for children suffering from issues such as violence and abuse. Helplines lack the barriers often associated with the use of many other health services; and for many children, the helpline is the first point of contact with any kind of child protection and an important venue to go to in times of socio-economic distress. For instance, more children attempt to call the helpline in times of high unemployment, and relatively more of those conversations are about violence. Empirical evidence is scarce regarding how to implement online chat communication to improve quality and the child’s well-being. In this study, we focus on the impact of chat duration, number of words, and the type of support. The results show that for children seeking emotional support, a longer chat negatively influences the immediate well-being and the counsellor needs to listen (i.e., not type), as relatively more child words result in higher evaluations. We conclude that for emotional support, the counsellor should be prepared to listen carefully, but also manage the duration. However, for children chatting for instrumental support, the counsellor needs to type more to create positive perceptions of quality. Since the impact of chat share is different for children seeking emotional support (negative) versus instrumental support (positive), counsellors need to be sensitive to early indicators of the reason for the chat.

The Dark Side of Addiction Support Forums: Impacts of Poor Quality and Insufficient Emotional Support on Perceived Support Availability and Health Efficacy

Research has identified many benefits of participating in online social support forums; however, the potential negative impacts of these communities have rarely been examined. This study explored the negative impacts of low quality (i.e., low person-centered) and insufficient (i.e., under-benefitted) emotional support on online support seekers. Health stigma and perceived support availability were also examined as mediating and moderating variables, respectively, in the model. An online survey of addiction support forum users (N = 321) was conducted. Results showed that for participants with low health stigma, low person-centered support decreased health self-efficacy through reducing perceived online emotional support availability, but under-benefitted support did not impact them. For those with high health stigma, low person-centered emotional support had positive effects on health self-efficacy through increasing perceived support availability, whereas under-benefitted support reduced health self-efficacy through decreasing perceived support availability. Importantly, a considerable proportion of participants (44.86%) reported under-benefitted emotional support. These findings suggest support forum participation can have negative impacts, but not all participants are adversely impacted equally. Instead, moderating variables, such as health stigma, can play an important role. Implications for future research and health care practitioners are discussed.

Partner social support during pregnancy and the postpartum period and inflammation in 3-month-old infants

Prenatal social stress "programs" offspring immune activity in animal models, but how the prenatal social environment affects human offspring inflammation is not known. Here, we test associations between prenatal partner support quality, i.e. positive/helpful support, negative/upsetting support, and their interaction, and infant inflammatory markers. A sample of 113 women from the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) cohort were followed from early pregnancy to 3-months postpartum. Partner support quality was measured during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Three-month-old infant blood samples were assayed for inflammatory markers, i.e., adaptive immune markers IFNγ, IL12p70 and IL10. The prenatal positive-by-negative partner support interaction predicted infant IFNγ, IL12p70, and IL10, p's<.035, independent of covariates and postpartum partner support. When negative partner support was high, high positive support predicted higher infant IFNγ, IL12p70, and IL10. As such, partner support during pregnancy that is both highly negative/upsetting and also highly positive/helpful predicted adaptive immunity markers in infants at 3 months of age.

Why and when social support predicts older adults' pain-related disability: a longitudinal study

Pain-related social support has been shown to be directly associated with pain-related disability, depending on whether it promotes functional autonomy or dependence. However, previous studies mostly relied on cross-sectional methods, precluding conclusions on the temporal relationship between pain-related social support and disability. Also, research on the behavioral and psychological processes that account for such a relationship is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the following longitudinally: (1) direct effects of social support for functional autonomy/dependence on pain-related disability, (2) mediating role of physical functioning, pain-related self-efficacy, and fear, and (3) whether pain duration and pain intensity moderate such mediating processes. A total of 168 older adults (Mage = 78.3; SDage = 8.7) participated in a 3-month prospective design, with 3 moments of measurement, with a 6-week lag between them. Participants completed the Formal Social Support for Autonomy and Dependence in Pain Inventory, the Brief Pain Inventory, the 36-SF Health Survey, behavioral tasks from the Senior Fitness Test, the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia. Moderated mediation analyses showed that formal social support for functional dependence (T1) predicted an increase in pain-related disability (T3), that was mediated by self-reported physical functioning (T2) and by pain-related self-efficacy (T2) at short to moderate pain duration and at low to moderate pain intensity, but not at higher levels. Findings emphasized that social support for functional dependence is a risk factor for pain-related disability and uncovered the "why" and "when" of this relationship. Implications for the design of social support interventions aiming at promoting older adults' healthy aging despite chronic pain are drawn.

The Dyadic Nature of Self-Evaluations: Self-Esteem and Efficacy Shape and Are Shaped by Support Processes in Relationships

The current research tested an important way one person’s self-evaluations could shape their intimate partner’s self-evaluations. We predicted that greater self-esteem would predict greater efficacy and esteem support when partners needed support, which would facilitate greater efficacy and self-esteem in partners. We examined these processes within discussions in which one partner could provide support (support provider) to the other (support recipient). Study 1 illustrated that self-esteem was specifically associated with esteem support. Study 2 demonstrated that support providers higher in self-esteem experienced greater efficacy during couples’ support discussions and thus delivered greater esteem support to their partners. Greater esteem support, in turn, was associated with recipients experiencing greater efficacy within couples’ discussions and greater self-esteem across time. Analyses of alternative explanations indicated these processes were unique to self-esteem and esteem support. The results provide initial evidence that self-esteem and efficacy shape, and are shaped by, esteem-related support processes within relationships.

Face Threats and Additional Reasons for Perceiving Support as Unwanted: A Study of Recently Diagnosed Cancer Patients

This study investigated instances of support that were deemed unwanted by a recipient in the wake of a cancer diagnosis. The investigation was framed by politeness theory and considered the face threats evident in cancer patients' descriptions of unwanted support. Additional reasons for viewing support as unwanted, as well as the outcomes of receiving unwanted support, were also explored. Interviews (N = 15) were conducted with cancer patients who had been initially diagnosed within the previous 12 months. Analyses demonstrated that face threats are among the reasons for viewing some support as problematic; however, additional reasons beyond face threats also occurred. The most frequently occurring reasons for regarding support as unwanted were threats to the receiver's negative face and messages failing to convey empathy. Finally, the influence of receiving unwanted support on cancer patients is discussed in terms of recipients' ability to manage emotions, respond to the support, potentially view the support provider negatively, and assert greater control over future supportive interactions.

Giving the Help That Is Needed

Social support is most effective when it meets recipients’ needs. Guided by regulatory mode theory, this article examines how support providers’ chronic motivational concerns with assessment and locomotion shape help provision. We hypothesized that stronger assessment concerns motivate helpers to “tailor” support efforts by offering support that meets helpees’ specific motivational concerns and not offering support that would fail to address these concerns. In contrast, we predicted that stronger locomotion concerns motivate helpers to offer both support that fits helpees’ needs and support that does not. The results of Studies 1 and 2, using hypothetical scenarios, were consistent with these hypotheses. Study 3 replicated these findings in support interactions among friend pairs, and also found that helper assessment predicted greater support tailoring, which in turn predicted helpees’ negative mood improvement. Chronic assessment and locomotion concerns direct support efforts and influence the extent to which support is beneficial.

Commitment in romantic relationships as a function of partners' encoding of important couple-related memories

The purpose of the present study was to investigate how significant couple-related events are encoded in the episodic memory of each partner of a romantic relationship and how they relate to each of these partners' level of commitment in an independent and additive fashion. Each partner of a couple reported a significant couple-related memory and rated their level of need satisfaction experienced during the event of the memory. In addition, each partner was shown his/her partner's memory and also rated their own level of need satisfaction for this event. Results showed that partners need satisfaction ratings of their own memory positively predicted their own commitment to the relationship directly (for women) as well as through their need satisfaction generally experienced in the relationship (for men). In addition, men's need satisfaction ratings of their own memory were associated with women's commitment while controlling for women's need satisfaction ratings of men's memory, but no such cross-partner effects were found for women. Overall, the findings shed light on an initial understanding of how a person's own memory of an event can impact another person's attitudes even when taking into account this other person's memory encoding of that same event.

When in Doubt, Reach Out

Social support is critical to personal and relational well-being. Yet, receiving support appears to be contingent upon adequately conveying need to a receptive partner who both understands and is willing to provide said support. Or is it? We provide the first evidence of a covert haptic support system between adult intimates, showing that literally reaching out to a loved one can result in feeling supported even when the receiver of haptic support requests does not perceive them as bids for comfort. We tested this by unobtrusively observing support interactions between dating partners. As expected, those experiencing distress were more likely to seek touch from their partners, which elicited responsive touch—even though receivers failed to discern need from support-seekers’ touch. Importantly, those who received responsive touch from their romantic partners felt more supported. Because touch begets touch, clear communication between intimates is not always necessary for successful support interactions.

A new look at social support: a theoretical perspective on thriving through relationships

Close and caring relationships are undeniably linked to health and well-being at all stages in the life span. Yet the specific pathways through which close relationships promote optimal well-being are not well understood. In this article, we present a model of thriving through relationships to provide a theoretical foundation for identifying the specific interpersonal processes that underlie the effects of close relationships on thriving. This model highlights two life contexts through which people may potentially thrive (coping successfully with life's adversities and actively pursuing life opportunities for growth and development), it proposes two relational support functions that are fundamental to the experience of thriving in each life context, and it identifies mediators through which relational support is likely to have long-term effects on thriving. This perspective highlights the need for researchers to take a new look at social support by conceptualizing it as an interpersonal process with a focus on thriving.

Calibrating Independence Goals and Partner Support: Couples Adjust to Functional Limitations after Tumor Surgery

BACKGROUND

When patients recover from disease-related functional limitations, support received from partners may not always match patients' changing independence goals. The lines of defense (LoD) model proposes a hierarchy of independence goals (LoDs), ranging from minimising discomfort by disengagement (lowest LoD) to protection of self-reliance (highest LoD). Prostate cancer patients' LoDs were examined as moderators of the association between partner support and patients' and partners' affect during patients' recovery from postsurgical functional limitations.

METHODS

Data from 169 couples were assessed four times within 7 months following patients' surgery. Patients reported on post-surgery functional limitations (i.e. incontinence), LoDs, affect, and received partner support. Partners reported on affect and support provided to patients.

RESULTS

In patients endorsing lower LoDs, more received support was associated with less negative affect. Also, not endorsing high LoDs while receiving strong partner support was related to patients' lower negative and higher positive affect. Partners' support provision to patients tended to be associated with increases in partners' negative affect when patients had endorsed higher LoDs and with increases in positive affect when patients had endorsed lower LoDs.

CONCLUSIONS

Matching patients' independence goals or LoDs with partners' support may be beneficial for patients' and partners' affect.

Partner support and maternal depression in the context of the Iowa floods

A systematic investigation of the role of prenatal partner support in perinatal maternal depression was conducted. Separate facets of partner support were examined (i.e., received support and support adequacy) and a multidimensional model of support was applied to investigate the effects of distinct types of support (i.e., informational, physical comfort, emotional/esteem, and tangible support). Both main and stress-buffering models of partner support were tested in the context of prenatal maternal stress resulting from exposure to a natural disaster. Questionnaire data were analyzed from 145 partnered women using growth curve analytic techniques. Results indicate that received support interacts with maternal flood stress during pregnancy to weaken the association between stress and trajectories of maternal depression from pregnancy to 30 months postpartum. Support adequacy did not interact with stress, but was associated with levels of depressive symptoms controlling for maternal stress and received support. Results demonstrate the distinct roles of various facets and types of support for a more refined explanatory model of prenatal partner support and perinatal maternal depression. Results inform both main effect and stress buffering models of partner support as they apply to the etiology of perinatal maternal depression, and highlight the importance of promoting partner support during pregnancy that matches support preferences.

Depth and Breadth Tactics in Support Seeking

Past support-seeking research has examined how much support people seek (strategic level) or the way they seek it (tactical level). However, there are questions that can only be answered by looking at both levels simultaneously. In this article, we investigated how the overall amount of support sought can be decomposed into two component tactics: the number of supporters one seeks (breadth) and the amount one seeks from each supporter (depth). In a 2-week diary study of support seeking, it was found that gender and attachment differences in overall support seeking were driven by the breadth rather than the depth of seeking. It was also found that breadth was associated with increases in perceived support availability, whereas both breadth and depth were associated with increases in self-esteem.

Social support as a moderator for alcohol-related partner aggression during the transition to parenthood

Alcohol-related partner aggression is a pervasive social problem throughout various life stages, including the transition to parenthood. Previous research shows that alcohol use is associated with partner aggression perpetration for both men and women; however, not all individuals who consume alcohol act aggressively. In this study, the moderating effects of general social support and partner-specific support on the association between prepregnancy alcohol use and recent partner physical aggression are investigated using a community sample of 98 pregnant couples. For men, high levels of general appraisal social support (i.e., someone to talk to about one's problems) increases the strength of the association between alcohol use and aggression perpetration, whereas partner-specific emotional support serves as a buffer. For women, general social support is not a significant moderator, but high levels of partner-specific instrumental support strengthens the association between alcohol use and aggression. These results can be applied to prevention and treatment programs for alcohol-related partner aggression.

Marriage as a risk factor for internalizing disorders: clarifying scope and specificity

OBJECTIVE

Marital discord has been linked to both depression and anxiety; however, our understanding of how marriage contributes to the development of internalizing symptoms is limited in scope and lacking specificity. First, it is unclear whether the marital relationship contributes to the broad dimension of internalizing symptoms as opposed to specific diagnoses. Second, it is unclear how the marital relationship contributes to internalizing symptoms: through global marital dissatisfaction or through specific relationship processes (and which processes). The purpose of the present study was to address these 2 issues and, more generally, to develop a comprehensive and refined framework within which to understand the role of marriage in the developmental course of internalizing symptoms.

METHOD

Questionnaire and interview data were collected from 102 husbands and wives 5 times over the first 7 years of marriage.

RESULTS

Results indicated that marital discord during the transition into marriage was associated with the broad dimension of internalizing symptoms for husbands but not for wives. Further, both global marital dissatisfaction and an imbalance of power and control put husbands at significant risk for symptoms over the first 7 years of marriage, whereas low levels of emotional intimacy put wives at significant risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Results exemplify the need to routinely consider intimate relationship processes in etiological models of depression and anxiety and to identify specific clinical targets that can be prioritized in interventions aimed at preventing internalizing disorders.

The more the better? The relationship between mismatches in social support and subjective well-being in daily life

In this study, we examined the relationship between discrepancies between desired and received support and subjective well-being, as indicated by negative affect and perceived stress, in daily life. Participants were 30 undergraduates who were equipped with hand-held computers for seven days. Results showed that underprovision of support predicted lower well-being, whereas overprovision was related to higher well-being, suggesting a linear relationship. Emotional support proved to be more influential than practical and informational support. In contrast to previous research, perceived social support turned out to be unrelated to well-being in daily life.