L’indépendance émotionnelle à la mère et au père en lien avec la détresse psychologique chez les jeunes femmes

Women aged from 18 to 25 years old are a group particularly at risk to experience elevated psychological distress. However, only a few studies have documented developmental factors associated with this variable for this population, especially in regard to emotional independence to mother's and father's individuation. The aim of the study is to explore the association between emotional independence to each parent, referring to the underlying emotional aspect related to the distance toward each parent, and psychological distress. The sample includes 1716 French-Canadian college women aged from 18 to 25 who completed an online survey. Results confirm the high prevalence of psychological distress among this population. Emotional independence to mothers and fathers are found to be moderately correlated. However, the mean emotional independence to mothers is significantly lower than the emotional independence to fathers. The results also suggest that low emotional independence, even to only one of parents is associated with higher levels of distress among young women. In contrast, levels of middle and high emotional independence from both parents are associated with lower levels of distress. The findings support the association between emotional independence to each parent and psychological distress. Empirically, further studies should distinguish between mother's and father's emotional independence. Clinically, these results emphasize the need to works patient's emotional independence to both parents.     

Asian adolescents’ perceptions of parent, peer, and school support and psychological adjustment: The mediating role of dispositional optimism

This investigation examines the respective contributions of perceived support from parents, peers, and school to the psychological adjustment of 519 thirteen-year-old Asian adolescents from a middle school in Singapore, and the mediating role dispositional optimism plays in these relationships. The findings suggest that positive supportive relationships with parents, peers, and the school are important contextual factors influencing the psychological well-being of these adolescents. Dispositional optimism partially mediates support from each of these three sources and psychological adjustment. Sex differences were noted. This study contributes to a small body of research highlighting the role of a positive mechanism that underpins emotional wellbeing and psychological adaptation in the three developmental contexts that are important in shaping the beliefs, thinking and behavior of the growing Asian adolescent, particularly with respect to girls. Implications arising from this study are discussed. This study was supported by the Academic Research Fund grant (RI 5/04 YLS) from National Institute of Education to Lay See Yeo.     

Experiences of Children Heading Households in Hammarsdale,KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

This study explored the experiences of children who are heads of households, particularly with regard to the psychological, emotional and social effects of heading a household, and access to schooling and support services. Fifteen children (females, n=9; males, n= 6; age range 3 to 18) participated. Data were collected using in-depth interviews. Content analysis was employed in the qualitative analysis of the data. The findings revealed that many children from child-headed households lived in poverty, experienced psychological and emotional problems, received limited or no support from relatives and had irregular school attendance. Children heading households face ongoing challenges in relation to fulfilling their basic needs for food, clothing, shelter and security.     

SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORK DIFFERENTIALS AMONG MARRIED AND NONMARRIED BLACK FEMALES

Being married has generally been associated with better mental health for adult females, in part because of the social support derived from a primary network relationship. Without the benefit of a spouse, it would be expected that nonmarried adult females would have fewer sources of social support and concomitantly lower levels of psychological well-being. Focusing on selected network characteristics, this study analyzes the differences in social support available to a sample of 91 married and 183 nonmarried Black females residing in a metropolitan area. Results indicate that having a spouse has little influence on the number of socially supportive relationships or the most important sources of assistance with financial problems. A marital partner is a source of emotional support for married Black females, but only for less than one-third. Family members and extended kin are major sources of social support for Black females, irrespective of marital status.     

亲子关系和朋友支持对流动儿童情绪和行为适应的保护作用

以1008名初中流动儿童为研究对象,在压力背景下探讨亲子关系和朋友支持对流动儿童不同情绪适应（孤独感、社交焦虑）和行为适应结果（问题行为、亲社会行为）的保护作用,并揭示二者保护作用的适用领域及其差异。结果表明：（1）亲子关系显著预测行为适应,朋友支持显著预测情绪适应和亲社会行为。（2）亲子关系能够缓解压力事件对流动儿童问题行为的消极作用。（3）朋友支持能够缓解压力事件对流动儿童孤独感和社交焦虑的消极作用。（4）尽管亲子关系和朋友支持都能够缓解压力事件对流动儿童亲社会行为的消极作用,但压力事件较少时二者的保护效应更强。这提示流动儿童与父母和朋友的紧密情感联结能够缓解压力事件对其情绪和行为适应的消极作用：父母是缓解行为适应问题的保护因素,朋友是缓解情绪适应问题的保护因素;积极行为适应能够同时获益于父母和朋友支持。     

Distinct Psychological Characteristics Predict Resilience and Recovery Throughout Widowhood

The dual-process model proposes that early and later bereavement involves different types of stressors and adaptation processes (Stroebe & Schut, 1999, 2010). It is thus possible that different factors facilitate adaptation during the early months versus subsequent years following widowhood. Elevated depressive symptoms, though prevalent after widowhood, may indicate problematic adaptation, as they are associated with poor long-term physical and mental health outcomes. We predicted that neutral death acceptance would be associated with less increase in depression during early widowhood (when confronted with loss-oriented stressors), whereas perceived control would predict depressive symptom decline during later widowhood (when adapting to controllable restoration-oriented stressors). Older adults (N = 265) reported on neutral death acceptance, perceived control, and depression before widowhood and on depression 0.5, 1.5, and 4.0 years after the death of their spouse. Bilinear spline growth modeling revealed that, on average, depressive symptoms increased from before to 0.5 years after spouse death and fell from 0.5 to 4.0 years after spouse death. Neutral death acceptance predicted a smaller increase in depression from before to 0.5 years after spouse death, as well as a smaller subsequent decrease in depression from 0.5 to 4.0 years after spouse death. Perceived control predicted a larger decrease in depression from 0.5 to 4.0 years after spouse death. Neutral death acceptance and perceived control had unique associations with resilience and recovery throughout early and later widowhood. These variables may be fruitful targets in interventions for depression throughout the full course of widowhood.     

Emotional autonomy and adjustment among emerging adults: The moderating role of family relationships

Emerging adults build their personal maturity within the family context; however, few studies focus on the role of emotional autonomy during this stage. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between emotional autonomy and adjustment during emerging adulthood, bearing in mind the possible moderating role of parental support in this relationship. Data were collected from 1,502 Spanish undergraduate students (903 women) aged between 18 and 29. Participants completed measures of emotional autonomy (EAS, Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986), family social support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988), psychological well-being (PWBS; Ryff, Lee, Essex & Schmutte, 1995) and psychological distress (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). The results indicate that emotional autonomy correlates negatively with family support and psychological well-being and positively with psychological distress. However, only when young people perceive a family context with low social support is gaining emotional distance from their parents associated with an increase in their psychological well-being. Our findings highlight the crucial role that the family environment plays in well-being during young adulthood, and reveal that the effect of emotional distancing from parents on adjustment depends on the quality of the family climate. Future research should seek to gain greater insight into emotional autonomy during emerging adulthood, taking into account cross-cultural diversity.     

The distinctive moral personality of care exemplars

Positive emotion following bereavement was examined in a prospective longitudinal study. Participants lost a spouse (n?=?250) and were interviewed prior to the death, 6 months after the death, and in some cases 18 and 48 months after the death. Early theorists suggested that positive emotion during times of distress may indicate pathology. In contrast, more recent theorists suggest that positive emotion is desirable even during times of distress. In this analysis, positive emotion was associated with desirable outcomes (less depressed mood, more social support received, more social provision to others) and this effect was not diminished among people reporting elevated levels of distress. Also, the simultaneous occurrence of positive emotion and distress was not associated with pre-existing emotional instability. Those experiencing positive emotion reported lower levels of grief, but not qualitatively different grief. The findings suggest that positive emotion tends to be associated with desirable outcomes even among people reporting elevated distress.     

Intergenerational Transfers: Associations with Adult Children’s Emotional Support of Their Parents

This study investigates how different factors in regard to intergenerational relationships are associated with emotional support given by adults to their parents. The analysis focuses on adult children and their parents in a representative German sample. Data were obtained from the second wave of the German Family Panel (pairfam) consisting of 2064 women and 1841 men. Results show that transfer of emotional support by the adult children was especially associated not only with received emotional support from parents, but also with affection, conflicts, and expectations concerning parents. A moderator analysis focuses on gender and showed differences for the association between given support by adults and conflicts between mothers and fathers. For the offspring, no gender effects were found.     

The relationship of social support to physical and psychological aspects of AIDS

Abstract

This study explored the social support networks of 50 homosexual males with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Data gathered by self report questionnaires and medical records included diagnosis, number of medical symptoms, sociodemographics, extensive information about social support networks, mood state and physical health status. Variables associated with good psychological and physical adaptation included satisfaction with support, instrumental support and emotional support. Results of this study conflict with previous studies in that worse physical condition was not positively associated with satisfaction with support, was related to less instrumental support and was not associated with increased quantitative support. The measures of satisfaction with support, instrumental support and emotional support were all quite high, even though network size was small.     

Personal relationships,personal attributes,and stress resistance: Mothers' reactions to their child's illness

The contribution to emotional distress of mastery, intimacy, received social support, and discomfort in seeking support was examined over a year period among 107 Israeli mothers of well, acutely ill, or chronically ill children. The following was found: (a) Women initially high in mastery experienced less psychological distress and benefited more from social support than did women low in mastery. (b) The greater social support women generally received the lower their psychological distress. (c) Independent of the level of generally received support, women who experienced greater distress received greater social support at the time of crisis. (d) Intimacy with spouse was related to better stress resistance, but the opposite was found for intimacy with family. (e) Women who felt uncomfortable seeking support were more distressed at the time of initial crisis than women who were more comfortable seeking support and became less intimate with significant others.     

Grandparents' support for families who have children with disabilities

This study was designed to assess the levels of support provided by grandparents for families who had grandchildren with disabilities. A questionnaire survey of parents was used to assess the levels of practical, financial and emotional support they received from the children's grandparents. Parents were also questioned about their satisfaction with this support. Overall levels of support were low but most parents were nevertheless generally satisfied with the support they had received. However, a quarter of the grandparents were considered to have added to the parent's problems and almost a third of the parents expressed a wish for more support from grandparents.     

Church-Based Emotional Support And Self-Forgiveness in Late Life

The purpose of this study is to see whether emotional support from fellow church members is associated with self-forgiveness in late life. The data come from a longitudinal nationwide survey of older adults. An effort is made to contribute to the literature by comparing and contrasting the effects of two church-based support measures: the amount of emotional support that is provided by fellow church members and satisfaction with emotional support from co-religionists. The findings suggest that older study participants who are more satisfied with the emotional support they have received from the members of their church are more likely to forgive themselves than older people who are not satisfied with the emotional support they have received in church. In contrast, significant effects failed to emerge with the measure of the amount of received emotional support.     

Augmenting the theory of planned behaviour: Motivation to provide practical assistance and emotional support to parents

Abstract

Surveys indicate that the highest proportion of people receiving informal care are parents (Green, 1988), yet a literature search showed that psychological studies of motivation to care for parents are limited. The present study utilised an augmented model of the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1985) including measures of anticipated regret and carer self-concept, to examine individuals' motivations to provide practical assistance and emotional support to their parents. Intention to provide emotional support was predicted by the theory of planned behaviour constructs, while intention to provide practical assistance was predicted by subjective norm and perceived behavioural control but not by attitude. Anticipated regret substantially improved prediction of both types of behavioural intention. These findings indicate that providing practical assistance and emotional support are motivated behaviours, governed by both rational and emotional factors, suggesting that future research may benefit from adopting a broader perspective based upon social psychological theory     

Explaining Adolescents’ Affect: A Time-Use Study of Opportunities for Support and Autonomy across Interpersonal Contexts

In order to uncover the reason why adolescents generally experience less positive emotional experience in the presence of parents, we compared the association of perceived opportunities for autonomy and support to adolescents’ positive emotional states when they were with their parents vs. in other interpersonal contexts. Thirty-one white, lower socioeconomic status, ninth grade students evaluated the fulfillment of their autonomy and support needs and their emotional experiences at multiple time points within a variety of interpersonal contexts over a one-week period. Hierarchical linear modeling of 1268 surveys showed that, compared to when they were with only their parents, these adolescents experienced relatively more frequent positive emotions when they were with peers, or with other adults in addition to or in the absence of their parents. Moreover, perceived opportunities for autonomy and support were associated with positive emotional experiences at a given time point. Perceived autonomy and support operated differently depending on the interpersonal context; the effects of these opportunities were smaller in the context of parent-only interactions than those involving interactions with other people. This study contributes to the literature on adolescent affect by showing that the moment-by-moment, intra-individual psychological affordances of autonomy and support are differentially associated with emotional experiences depending on the interpersonal context. Furthermore, these findings suggest that individuation-relatedness theory appears to be applicable to a relatively understudied population, namely white adolescents from low-SES families.     

Emotional load and social support as indicators of bullying at work

This study sought to ascertain whether elevated emotional load and a lack of social support could be indicative of bullying at work. Participants totalled 1442 employees from the manufacturing industry in South Africa. Data on emotional load, social support, and bullying were gathered using a self-report survey. Structural equation modelling methods were implemented to establish the variance explained in bullying by colleagues and bullying by supervisors, as outcomes, with emotional load and social support as predictor variables. Additionally, multi-group analyses were performed to investigate how the explained variances might differ based on gender and race. Results revealed that the models fitted the data well and that emotional load and a lack of social support explained a substantial amount of variance in bullying by superiors and bullying by colleagues. With regard to the multi-group analysis more variance was explained for females than for males, but the values were quite similar in all groups which give strength to the generalisability of the findings. The findings of this study therefore indicate that elevated emotional load and a lack of social support are indicators of bullying behaviour at work.     

Measurement of Affect Regulation Styles (MARS) expanded

An expanded Spanish version of the Measure of Affect Regulation Styles (MARS), was applied to episodes of anger and sadness, in a sample of 355 graduate students from Chile, Spain, and Mexico. The study examines the association between affective regulation, adaptation to episodes and dispositional coping and emotional regulation, and psychological well-being. With regard to perceived improvement of adaptive goals, the following adaptive affect regulation strategies were confirmed: Instrumental coping, seeking social support, positive reappraisal, distraction, rumination, self-comfort, self-control, and emotional expression were functional; whereas inhibition and suppression were dysfunctional. Adaptive strategies were positively associated with psychological well-being, reappraisal and humor as a coping strategy. Negative associations were found between adaptive strategies and suppression and alexithymia. Maladaptive strategies show the opposite profile. Confrontation, instrumental coping, social support as well as social isolation were more frequently found in anger, an approach emotion.     

Substitution and compensation in the social networks of older widowed women

The death of a spouse often requires widows to derive support from other people, but little is known about the adaptive significance of such substitute sources of support. Older women (N = 322) widowed 3-30 months were interviewed 7 times over 1 year to investigate social network substitution (derivation of support from alternative social ties) and compensation (derivation of psychological benefits from these alternative ties). Three forms of substitution (formation of new social ties, rekindling of dormant ties, and intensification of existing ties) varied with the duration of widowhood. Regardless of the duration of widowhood, however, greater substitution was related to worse psychological health. Social network substitution appears to occur in widowhood, but the compensatory benefits of substitute ties are more elusive.