Acculturative Stress and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Immigrants: the Role of Gender and Social Support

The USA has among the largest immigrant population of any country in the world, and over the past few decades, the proportion of Chinese immigrants in the USA has increased significantly. Immigrants may experience substantial acculturative stress as they learn to navigate their new environment, and this stress can contribute to depressive symptoms and poor mental health. Social support can help mitigate the effects of stress on depressive symptoms, but the protective effects of social support have been reported to differ between men and women. Thus, the present study examined associations of acculturative stress and depressive symptoms among Chinese immigrants and explored whether the effects of social support on depressive symptoms varied by gender. Participants included 620 foreign-born Chinese men and women who completed questionnaires on acculturative stress, social support, and depressive symptoms. In nested regression analyses, acculturative stress was positively associated with depressive symptoms among both men and women. However, the interaction of social support and acculturative stress on depressive symptoms was statistically significant among men (β = - 0.89, p < 0.001), but not women (β = - 0.43, p = 0.21). These findings suggest that social support moderates the association of acculturative stress with depressive symptoms, but only among Chinese immigrant men. Future research should explore factors that can enhance resilience and mitigate acculturative stress effects on psychological well-being among Chinese immigrant women.

Structural and Social-Psychological Factors associated with Job Functioning by Women Managers,2

This study examined the relationship among psychological variables and organizational functioning in a sample of managers, 65 women and 65 men. Analysis of responses to a mail questionnaire showed women, compared to men, were higher on Type A behaviour, speed and impatience, and job involvement scale scores. Women were less likely to have families than men, and men appeared to benefit more from marriage. Men also reported higher salaries with greater family support. These results support the need for research to take into account the social context within which organizational and work behaviour takes place.

The centrality of health behaviours: A network analytic approach

OBJECTIVES

Since behavioural risk factors are the foremost causes of disability and premature mortality, developing new perspectives for understanding them is of utmost importance. This paper describes an innovative approach that conceptualizes health-related behaviours as nodes in a weighted network.

DESIGN & METHODS

Using self-reported data from a representative sample (n = 374), a network of 37 health behaviours was analysed, with the aim of identifying 'central' nodes, that is, behaviours that are likely to co-occur with others and potentially influence them.

RESULTS

In line with conservation of resources theory, the analysis indicated that behaviours related to basic physiological needs (nutrition and sleep) were most central. Behaviour centrality also varied across subpopulations: Periodic medical examinations, eating meals regularly, and sleep hygiene were more central among high- compared to low-socio-economic status participants; behaviours related to supportive social relationships and sun protection were more central among women compared to men.

CONCLUSION

By emphasizing behavioural connectivity, the approach applied herein has identified core health behaviours with potentially high impact on healthy lifestyle behaviours. Statement of Contribution What is already known on this subject? Many health behaviours are related to each other. Engagement in one health behaviour can affect engagement in other behaviours. What does this study add? Health behaviour can be viewed and analysed as a network. Sleep and nutrition behaviours are the most central behaviours in the network. Centrality varies as a function of socio-economic status and gender.

Parental Perceived Control and Social Support: Linkages to Change in Parenting Behaviors During Early Adolescence

Prior studies have found that parents' perceptions of control over their lives and their social support may both be important for parenting behaviors. Yet, few studies have examined their unique and interacting influence on parenting behaviors during early adolescence. This longitudinal study of rural parents in two-parent families (N = 636) investigated (a) whether perceived control and social support when their youth were in sixth grade were independently or interactively associated with changes in parenting behaviors (discipline, standard setting) and parent-child warmth and hostility 6 months later and (b) if these linkages differed by parent gender. We also investigated the interactive links between perceived control, social support, and parenting. Specifically, we tested if parents' perceived control moderated the linkages between social support and parenting and if these linkages differed by parent gender. Greater perceived control predicted more increases in parents' consistent discipline and standard setting, whereas greater social support predicted increases in parent-child warmth and decreases in parent-child hostility. Parental perceived control moderated the effect of social support on parental warmth: For mothers only, social support was significantly linked to parent-child warmth only when mothers had low (but not high) perceived self-control. The discussion focuses on reasons why perceived control and social support may have associations with different aspects of parenting and why these might differ for mothers and fathers.

[The importance of social relationships as a mechanism to improve the health and quality of life of the elderly, from an interdisciplinary perspective]

INTRODUCTION

This study presents an analysis on the effects of positive social relationships as determining factors on the health status of the elderly, from an interdisciplinary point of view.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A survey was carried out on a total of 2,332 subjects in the province of Toledo, Spain, using several scales related to the study objectives. For the multivariable analysis of the data, the linear regression, along with goodness of fit, as well as the tests of Cox, Snell and R-squared of Nagelkerke, were calculated to determine the correlation between the networks and the social contacts with the health.

RESULTS

Good social relationships result in better health, because they allow us to feel good and add life to the years. The size of the social network, and the frequency of contacts, although decreasing with age, become vitally important at this stage of life. All these factors constitute stimuli to improve the perception of health, to provide social support in activities of daily living, as well as for instrumental or disease management.

CONCLUSIONS

The main outcome of this study is that positive social relationships can be considered as a determining factor in the health of the elderly, but not all these interactions influence the same extent. The factor of the human relationship in terms of emotional proximity, together with the frequency or quantity of these encounters, are also correlated with health, due to the emotional impact they imply.

A Theory of Unmitigated Communion

Research has established that women suffer more often than men from depression. Sex role socialization has been offered as one explanation for this sex difference, but traditional measures of female gender-related traits are not related to depressive symptoms. We argue that thus far research has failed to distinguish the traditional measure of female gender-related traits, communion, from another set of gender-related traits, unmitigated communion. Unmitigated communion is a focus on and involvement with others to the exclusion of the self. Unmitigated communion, but not communion, is related to psychological distress, including depressive symptoms, and accounts for sex differences in distress. We examine the relation of unmitigated communion to communion as well as other personality constructs and then describe the cognitive and behavioral features of unmitigated communion. We note the implications of unmitigated communion for physical and psychological well-being and speculate on possible origins.

Gender's Role in Responses to Infertility

Infertility is a major life stressor that affects approximately 10% of U.S. married couples. Infertile women and men have reported experiencing depression, helplessness, and marital strain. Given U.S. society's emphasis on women's role as mothers, it has been suggested that women's lives are more disrupted by infertility than those of men. This hypothesis was supported in a survey of 185 infertile couples and 90 presumed fertile couples. Infertile wives, as compared to their husbands, perceived their fertility problem as more stressful, felt more responsible for and in control of their infertility, and engaged in more problem-focused coping. Infertile husbands experienced more home life stress and lower home life performance than did their wives. These differences were not found for presumed fertile couples. Both infertile and presumed fertile wives experienced more depression, more sexual dissatisfaction, and lower self-esteem than did their husbands. Theoretical and counseling implications of these findings are discussed.

The Effects of Extracurricular Activity, Ethnic Identification, and Perception of School on Student Dropout Rates

With a growing Mexican American population and an increasing dropout rate predicted for this group, research is needed to examine ways of deterring this trend and increasing retention rates. The current study examined extracurricular activity, perception of school, and ethnic identification, and the association with school retention rates among Mexican American and White non-Hispanics. Individuals reporting participation in extracurricular activity were 2.30 times more likely to be enrolled in school than were those not participating in extracurricular activity. Those Mexican Americans reporting a higher White non-Hispanics ethnic identity level were 2.41 times more likely to be enrolled in school and had a more positive perception of school than did Mexican American individuals reporting low levels of White non-Hispanics ethnic identification.

Traits, Motives, and Depressive Styles as Reflections of Agency and Communion

Helgeson proposed a comprehensive model of agency, communion, and well-being that was based on a review of the literature on agentic and communal personality traits, power and intimacy motivation, and self-critical and dependent depressive styles. The present study empirically examined the overlap among these personality dimensions as well as their relations to positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and social adjustment. A factor analysis of the various personality measures yielded two factors, labeled communion and agency. Power motivation loaded negatively with four communal qualities: communal traits, communal role behaviors, intimacy motivation, and dependency. Self-criticism loaded negatively with two other agentic qualities: agentic traits and agentic role behaviors. Both agency and communion were significantly positively associated with positive affect and social adjustment. Agency also was sig nificantly associated with higher life satisfaction and lower negative affect. The positive adjustment outcomes related to agency were confirmed by peer reports.

Gender Differences in Coping with Stress: When Stressor and Appraisals Do Not Differ

In an attempt to control for the effects of event type on sex differences in coping, men and women responded to an identical achievement-related stressor under controlled laboratory conditions. Although men and women were similar in their cognitive appraisal of the situation, they nonetheless reported differences in preparatory coping. Women reported seeking social support and using emotion-focused coping to a greater extent than men, whereas men reported using relatively more problem-focused coping than women. The masculinity and femininity of respondents failed to moderate the relation between sex and coping. These results are inconsistent with a purely situational explanation of sex differences in coping but are consistent with the notion that men and women are socialized to cope with stress in different ways.

Motives for Social Comparison

The purpose of this research was to investigate the motives for social comparison. A set of motive statements was elicited from one group of subjects and then rated in terms of usefulness by a second group of subjects who were asked to imagine two hypothetical threats: being diagnosed with cancer and failing an exam. A factor analysis of these statements revealed six motives for social comparison: self-evaluation, common bond, self-improvement, self-enhancement, altruism, and self-destruction. A second study, conducted with subjects actually exposed to threat (i.e., receiving a below average score on relationship aptitude), confirmed the existence of these motives for social comparison. The effects of variables thought to influence the comparison process, such as self-esteem, comparison target, and comparison operationalization, were also examined in relation to comparison motives.

Psychological Androgyny

Androgyny represents a combination of personality characteristics traditionally associated with men (masculine) and those associated with women (feminine). This critical review provides an overview of basic assumptions, measures, research topics, and results of research in the androgyny literature. In particular, research on developmental perspectives emphasizes the importance of focusing upon how individuals systematically maintain and modify their perceptions and experiences as men and women over the life span. The impact of client and practitioner femininity and masculinity upon the counseling process remains poorly understood. Researchers and practitioners alike should recognize the complexity of sex-role-related phenomena, including the importance of situational factors and the role of individual differences in accounting for sex role behavior and adjustment.

Young adults' strategies for managing social support during weight-loss attempts

Obesity and being overweight often result in serious health problems. Despite growing awareness of the dangers associated with being overweight, many individuals struggle to lose weight. Investigators have identified social support as a key element in weight-loss attempts. Unfortunately, little has been done to investigate how people solicit social support from members of their pre-existing social network without a structured intervention. To address this limitation, I conducted in-depth interviews with 25 participants. Through grounded theory analysis of these interviews, I developed a typology of support management strategies used by overweight young adults when attempting to lose weight. I outline these strategies, their perceived success, and implications for future research in this article.

Social drinking in supportive contexts among college males

Two hundred and five male college students were administered a number of self-report questionnaires to assess the role of social drinking in their social support processes. Results indicated that the quantity and frequency of social drinking was positively related to seven of the ten social support variables associated with male social network members, but only one of ten female support variables. Other results showed that subjects obtained half of their companionship support in social drinking encounters, as well as over a quarter of their emotional support and one fifth of their material assistance and problem-solving support. Further analysis demonstrated that the male subjects received a higher proportion of all types of support while drinking when the support sources were male than compared to when they were female. These results are consistent with previous studies, which found that social drinking and social support are positively related. Social drinking seems to play an important role in the social support processes of college males, especially when other males are involved.

The relationship between childhood support and later emergence of PTSD

The authors examine the relationship between three sources of social support (maternal, paternal, and peer) and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study utilized data from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS), a large (N = 5,877) nationally representative population survey. Persons with and without a lifetime history of PTSD and those with and without a history of trauma exposure were compared on levels of social support received prior to age 15. Persons with a history of PTSD reported that they received less maternal, paternal, and peer support as children than those without PTSD. Importantly, persons who developed PTSD after the age of 17 reported lower levels of early childhood support from their fathers.

Le soutien social peut-il protéger les hommes de la tentative de suicide ?

Cette étude tente d’examiner si le soutien social peut constituer un facteur de protection de la tentative de suicide chez les hommes et, le cas échéant, à identifier quelles sont les formes et les sources de soutien les plus importantes. Elle compare deux groupes d’hommes qui ont vécu des événements de vie sévères au cours des 12 derniers mois : 40 hommes admis à l’urgence d’un hôpital suite à une tentative de suicide et 40 hommes sans antécédent suicidaire. Les résultats indiquent que les hommes qui ont tenté de se suicider perçoivent moins de soutien disponible dans leur entourage et sont moins satisfaits du soutien reçu suite à l’événement le plus difficile survenu au cours de la dernière année. L’aide tangible et l’assurance de sa valeur sont les formes de soutien les plus importantes. L’étude souligne l’importance du soutien social dans la prévention des comportements suicidaires chez les hommes.

Mental health, life stress and social support among young Norwegian adolescents with immigrant and host national background

The first aim of the study was to investigate differences in level of mental health, life stress and social support among adolescents with immigrant and domestic background. A second aim was to identify culture group and gender specific sources of risk and protective factors and their relation to mental health. Questionnaire data were collected from 633 students, aged 13, in Oslo, Norway. Immigrant adolescents reported higher level of psychological distress and lower social support than host students. Of the four gender-culture groups, immigrant boys reported the highest level of problems, with a 28% prevalence of anxiety/depression. There were no significant differences in prevalence among the girls. Specific patterns of relationships between life stress, support, and mental health were found across gender and culture. The results were discussed within a framework of culture differences in values and gender role expectancies, underscoring the importance of studying each gender/culture group separately.

Long-term mental health of women after a first acute myocardial infarction11No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated

OBJECTIVES

To compare the long-term psychologic well-being and psychologic distress, after a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI), of women with those of men and those of a normative community sample of women and to examine the relation of sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic variables to the long-term psychologic well-being and psychologic distress of women.

DESIGN

Longitudinal study.

SETTING

Eight medical centers in central Israel.

PARTICIPANTS

Sixty-two women (age range, 30-65y) with documented first AMI.

INTERVENTIONS

Sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic data were collected before hospital discharge (T1). Psychologic well-being and psychologic distress were assessed 5 years after AMI (T2) with the Mental Health Inventory.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Hierarchical regression was used to examine the relations among the outcome variables, psychologic well-being, and psychologic distress at T2 and the predictors, sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic variables at T1.

RESULTS

Women had less long-term psychologic well-being and more psychologic distress after AMI than did men or the normative sample of women. Depression and concomitant medical problems were related to women's psychologic well-being; depression alone was related to their long-term psychologic distress.

CONCLUSIONS

Women with an AMI are more likely than men to have reduced psychologic well-being and increased psychologic distress. In addition, diminished mental health was related to medical and psychologic pathogenic factors.

Beyond intimacy: conceptualizing sex differences in same-sex friendships

This study was designed to replicate and extend prior findings that same-sex friendships of women and men are equally important but that women's friendships are more intimate. A group of adolescents and a group of adults were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire regarding the quality of their close friendships, the degree to which they would support a close friend in times of difficulty, and the degree to which they would celebrate with a friend in times of success. Results demonstrated that both females and males saw and spoke with their close friends and were equally willing to confront and trust their close friends. Females, however, reported more desire to spend time with a close friend in times of difficulty and to celebrate with a close friend who had just experienced a positive event. Results are discussed in terms of the differing functions of women's and men's same-sex friendships and women's greater general interest in and attention to transitions in the lives of other individuals.

College students' perceptions of helpful responses to bereaved persons: effects of sex of bereaved persons and cause of death

The present study examined whether the Sex of the participant, Cause of death (natural causes or suicide) and Sex of the bereaved were related to the perceived helpfulness of the behaviors and comments of support providers. After reading one of four scenarios in which a parent's cause of death and the sex of the grieving child were varied, 198 college students (112 women, 86 men) rated the helpfulness of 34 statements. Significant main effects for sex of the participant and cause of death were both found. While no significant main effect for sex of the bereaved was found, this variable did interact with sex of the participant and with cause of death for the variable of Provision of physical comfort. Significant interactions for sex of the participant x cause of death were found for the variables of Provision of physical comfort and Identification with the situation. The results underscore the value of multiple providers of support during grieving.

Drug treatment: explaining the gender paradox

There is something of a gender paradox in drug user treatment. Research consistently indicates that women possess "risk factors" associated with drug use relapse, yet women are no more likely, and possibly less likely, to relapse to drug use. Efforts to explain this paradox involve a longitudinal study of 330 women and men participating in outpatient drug-user treatment associated with the evaluation of the Los Angeles Target Cities Project funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. The findings offer no support for the drug severity and social support hypotheses, but some support for the treatment engagement hypothesis. Specifically, women participate more frequently in group counseling which, in turn, lowers their rate of relapse in spite of having more "risk factors." Further analyses indicate that the greater participation of women in group counseling does not stem from child-custody or other gender differences in the reasons for entering treatment, nor does it result from the enhanced services associated with the Target Cities Project. Rather, the differences in treatment engagement for women and men may result from gender norms concerning help-seeking, personal independence, strength, and control. The treatment and policy implications of these findings and recommendations for further research are discussed.

Confiding in crisis: gender differences in pattern of confiding among cancer patients

Social support has been identified as a key predictor of psychological morbidity following adverse life-events. However, the majority of the research has focused exclusively on women, despite evidence of significant gender difference in the utilisation and role of social support. To examine gender differences in patterns of confiding crisis, 520 subjects were interviewed within 8 weeks of a cancer diagnosis. Men were as likely as women to have confided their main concern in others (61% mainly or fully confided vs 67% of women, P = 0.308) but were much more likely to have used only one confidante (45% vs 25% of women, P < 0.001) while women made use of a wider circle of family, friends and partner and used more confidantes overall. The results confirm marked gender differences in the utilisation of social support at times of crisis and call into question the extent to which support research using exclusively female samples can be generalized.

Psychometric properties of the MSPSS and NOS in psychiatric outpatients

Prior research has demonstrated the utility of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the Network Orientation Scale (NOS) as measures of perceived social support among nonpsychiatric samples. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether these two scales can be used reliably among psychiatric outpatients, in particular those with schizophrenia or a major affective disorder. Subjects were 144 outpatients, aged 21 to 67 years, who completed the MSPSS and NOS. Results demonstrated high internal consistency for the MSPSS and adequate internal consistency for the NOS. In addition, convergent validity was demonstrated. Scores on both scales for these psychiatric outpatients were found to be lower as compared to "normals."

Factors influencing compulsory admission of psychiatric patients

From 1 January 1984 until 30 June 1986 all 517 compulsorily admitted psychiatric patients of a well-defined mixed rural-urban catchment area in Baden-Württemberg, a southern State of the German Federal Republic, were compared with all 10,232 voluntarily admitted patients. Because of the very low frequency of compulsory admissions this population can be regarded as a 'core group' of committed patients. In a logit analysis the characteristics distinguishing involuntary from voluntary patients can be reduced to three main factors: the diagnosis 'schizophrenia/paranoid disorder', 'masculine gender' and the compound indicator 'not owning a home', the latter being mainly associated with youth, masculine gender and low occupational status. The strong association of these characteristics with the criteria 'severity of disease' and 'danger to oneself and others', both pre-requisites for compulsory admission according to the laws of most countries, is discussed.