Oxytocin and the emergence of individual differences in the social regulation of stress

The ability to use social support to regulate stress is critical to mental and physical health. Here, we posit that the oxytocin system contributes to the variability in individual responses to social support. We first review the evidence that oxytocin is related to both social functioning and stress regulation. We focus on results from molecular genetics suggesting that individual variations in both of these functions are associated with natural variations in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). We then describe research that exploits this natural variation to directly and experimentally test relationships between the oxytocin system, social support, and stress regulation in both infants and adults. On the basis of our findings, we propose a novel theoretical model of how biological processes might interact with psychological beliefs about relationships—even in infants—to affect long‐term patterns of social regulation of stress.     

With a little help from my friends: A computational model for the role of social support in mood regulation

The growing interest in the role of social support in mental and physical health has led to the development of several intelligent systems that aim to use social mechanisms to simulate healthy behaviour. In this paper a computational model of a human agent is presented which describes the effect of social support on mood. According to the literature, social support can either refer to the social resources that individuals perceive to be available or to the support that is actually provided in problematic situations. The proposed model distinguishes between both roles of social support. The role of social network characteristics has been taken into account, as an individual can perceive or receive social support through his/her social network. In addition, the number of connections (friends), strength of ties (relationships), social isolation and social integration have been studied. Simulation experiments have been done to analyze the effect of the different types of support in different scenarios and also to analyze the role of various social network characteristics on the mood level. It is shown that support can help to reduce the induced stress and thus can contribute to healthy mood regulation and prevention of depression. The presented model provides a basis for an intelligent support system for people with mood regulation problems that take the social network of people into account.     

社会支持的调节作用研究

为了考察社会支持在人格特征和心理健康水平之间的调节作用,利用症状自评量表、社会支持评定量表和艾森克人格问卷简式量表对1102名大学生进行施测。层级回归分析的结果不仅支持了社会支持的调节作用,而且表明社会支持与个体的心理健康水平之间存在三种不同的关系形式,即(1)社会支持的主效应显著,但是调节效应不显著;(2)社会支持的主效应和调节效应同时显著;(3)社会支持的主效应不显著,但是调节效应显著。     

Symbolic providers help people regulate affect relationally: Implications for perceived support

Relational regulation theory (Lakey & Orehek, 2011 ) predicts that the correlation between perceived support and mental health emerges through ordinary conversation and shared activities rather than through conversations about stress and how to cope with it. Observing the conversations and activities of others also helps regulate mental health. Symbolic providers (known only through media) mimic how real providers regulate affect in that recipients observe the conversations and shared activities of symbolic providers. Thus, many perceived support findings obtained for real providers should also be found for symbolic providers. We found the same links between perceived support and affect when recipients rated symbolic providers as when recipients rated real providers. When participants' affect was worsened, viewing symbolic providers helped restore affect.     

青少年心理应激模型的初步研究

为考察生活事件、社会支持、应对方式、自我评价、人格等影响青少年心理健康的诸因素之间及其与心理健康的关系,初步建构青少年心理应激的结构方程模型,采用ASLEC、CSQ、EPQ、PEI、SSRS、SCL-90对湖南省470名青少年进行问卷调查。结果表明：1）社会支持对自我评价、应对方式有显著的预测作用,并通过人格、自我评价与应对方式间接影响心理健康。2）人格对心理健康有显著的直接效应,并通过应对方式间接影响心理健康。3）自我评价和应对方式是生活事件—心理健康的内部中介过程。     

应对方式、社会支持和心理压力对中学生心理健康的影响研究

该研究采用中学生应激源量表、中学生应对方式量表、领悟社会支持量表和症状自评量表(SCL-90)对852名初一至高三的学生进行了调查。通过单因变量多维交互效应的方差分析,结果表明：消极应对方式对中学生的心理健康影响较大;积极应对方式与心理健康的相关不显著;社会支持对心理健康的影响同时具有主效应和缓冲效应;心理压力与心理健康之间存在着显著相关;应对方式和社会支持在心理压力与心理健康的关系中彼此独立起作用,两者之间的交互作用不明显。     

Perceived and capitalization support are substantially similar: implications for social support theory

Social support is typically thought to protect people from bad events, whereas capitalization support augments people's reactions to good events. Because social support and capitalization support apply to different classes of events, most theory predicts that measures of perceived support and capitalization support should be empirically distinct. We tested a new theory that hypothesizes that the main effects between perceived support and mental health do not reflect stress and coping primarily, but instead reflect ordinary, yet affectively consequential conversations and shared activities, some of which include positive events. According to this view, perceived support and capitalization support should be substantially correlated, should have similar links to other constructs, and their links to favorable affect should overlap, yet not be completely redundant. In three samples, results were consistent with the new theory, when correlations reflected social influences. When correlations reflected trait influences, perceived and capitalization support showed greater overlap.     

Ordinary Social Interaction and the Main Effect Between Perceived Support and Affect

Relational regulation theory hypothesizes that (a) the main effect between perceived support and mental health primarily reflects ordinary social interaction rather than conversations about stress and how to cope with it, and (b) the extent to which a provider regulates a recipient's mental health primarily reflects the recipient's personal taste (i.e., is relational), rather than the provider's objective supportiveness. In three round‐robin studies, participants rated each other on supportiveness and the quality of ordinary social interaction, as well as their own affect when interacting with each other. Samples included marines about to deploy to Afghanistan (N = 100; 150 dyads), students sharing apartments (N = 64; 96 dyads), and strangers (N = 48; 72 dyads). Perceived support and ordinary social interaction were primarily relational, and most of perceived support's main effect on positive affect was redundant with ordinary social interaction. The main effect between perceived support and affect emerged among strangers after brief text conversations, and these links were partially verified by independent observers. Findings for negative affect were less consistent with theory. Ordinary social interaction appears to be able to explain much of the main effect between perceived support and positive affect.     

Race,social relationships,and mental health

Researchers often assume that the extent, quality, and effectiveness of personal relationships explain why African Americans have relatively good mental health despite experiencing high levels of stress. This study tests this assumption using data from the 1990–1992 National Comorbidity Survey. Few racial differences emerge in patterns of social relationships, and the nature and quality of social relationships do not explain African Americans’ resiliency on mental health. Several aspects of social relationships benefit African Americans’ mental health more than Whites’, but these moderating effects are insubstantial. Hence, the data do not support the assumption. If social relationships help explain the lack of racial differences in mental health, their nature and effects must be more adequately conceptualized.     

Social relationships, personality, and anxiety during a major stressful event

Although it is commonly believed that social relationships buffer the effects of stress on mental health, these apparent buffering effects may be spurious reflections of personality or prior mental health. This possibility was investigated in a prospective study of a medical school entrance examination. Five weeks before the examination, Ss (N = 56) rated their personality (extraversion and neuroticism) and social relationships (number of social contacts and perceived support). They then rated their anxiety for 35 days surrounding the examination. Controlling for personality and prior anxiety, social contacts buffered against increases in anxiety, whereas perceived support did not. Further analyses revealed that discretionary social contacts were beneficial whereas obligatory contacts were not.     

Does Spousal Support Moderate the Association Between Perceived Racial Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms among African American Couples?

Social stress theory proposes that stress resulting from one's social position in society leads to fewer coping resources, and subsequently causes an increase in mental health problems. Guided by this framework, we investigated whether the relationship between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms was moderated by spousal social support in a sample of 487 African American heterosexual couples. Using the actor‐partner interdependence model, findings suggested that female partner's perceived racial discrimination was predictive of her depressive symptomology irrespective of spousal support and male partner's perceived racial discrimination was predictive of depressive symptomology only among men with low levels of spousal support. No partner effects were present. The results demonstrate the need to examine variability in social stress and mental health outcomes for those in close relationships.     

Job Demands and Resources among Healthcare Professionals during Virus Pandemics: A Review and Examination of Fluctuations in Mental Health Strain during COVID-19

The present article examines how job demands and resources are related to indices of strain among healthcare professionals during virus pandemics. The article also presents the results of a study examining the relationships between COVID-19 demands (e.g., lack of personal protective equipment, concerns about infecting family members), resources (meaningful work, social support), and mental health strain within a sample of emergency medicine personnel over six consecutive weeks. COVID-19-related demands and hours worked were hypothesized to be positively related to mental health strain, whereas meaningful work and social support were hypothesized to be negatively related to mental health strain. Hours worked the prior week were hypothesized to exacerbate the positive relationships between COVID-19 demands and mental health strain, whereas the resources of meaningful work and social support were expected to buffer the relationships. Multilevel models controlling for mental health strain the prior week revealed that COVID-19 demands, along with hours worked, were each related to higher mental health strain during the week. Hours worked magnified the within-person relationship between personal COVID-19 demands and mental health strain. In contrast to the hypotheses, social support and meaningful work were not related to mental health strain. Discussion focuses on the implications of the findings for healthcare professionals.     

Social support and adaptation to stress by the elderly

The first of a two-phase project is reported that examined the prospective effects of stress and social support on the physical and mental health of the elderly. A sample of 50 elderly subjects was assessed at two points in time over a 6-month period. Results indicated that social support was a significant predictor of physical health status, whereas mental health was related to the Stress X Social Support interaction term. These latter results were consistent with the buffering hypothesis, in that high levels of social support served to reduce the negative impact of stress on mental health. Individuals who were in better mental health at the initial assessment experienced fewer stressful events and higher levels of social support over the subsequent 6-month period. The implications of these findings for research and theory regarding the relation between stress and social support are discussed.     

Bisexual Health: A Daily Diary Analysis of Stress and Anxiety

The current study aimed to develop a more complete picture of the day-to-day experience of mental health for bisexual people, including the relationships between social interactions and mental health. Specifically, the relationships between the occurrence of microaggressions and positive and negative identity events and reports of stress and anxiety within individuals were observed. Feelings of self-esteem, positive and negative affect, social belonging, and sexual identity certainty and centrality were also investigated as between-subject factors. Positive identity events were negatively associated with reports of stress and anxiety, whereas negative identity events were positively associated with stress and microaggressions positively associated with anxiety.     

Differential associations of leisure music engagement with resilience: A network analysis

Background/ObjectiveSeveral factors associated with resilience as the maintenance of mental health despite stress exposure can be strengthened through participation in leisure time activities. Since many people listen to or make music in their leisure time, the aim of the present study was to provide insights into the architecture of how resilience relates to passive and active music engagement.Method511 participants regularly listening to and/or making music completed an online survey on resilient outcomes (i.e., mental health and stressor recovery ability), different resilience factors (e.g., optimism, social support), quantitative music engagement (i.e., time spent with music listening/making) and qualitative music engagement (i.e., use of music listening/making for mood regulation).ResultsBivariate correlations showed that subjects spending more time with music making reported better stressor recovery ability and less mental health problems, while partial correlational network analysis revealed no unique associations for quantitative music engagement. Regarding qualitative music engagement, people using music-based mood regulation reported lower mental health, mindfulness, and optimism, but also higher social support. A more heterogeneous pattern emerged for single music-based mood regulation strategies.ConclusionsOur findings highlight the importance of the individual (mal-)adaptive use of music, painting a more nuanced picture of music engagement and resilience.     

Social Support and Use of Mental Health Services By Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites

It has been hypothesized that lack of social resources is associated with use of professional mental health services. Social resources may also have different relationships to mental health service use in cultural groups whose attitudes about use differ. This study tested these hypotheses using survey data from 1,149 non-Hispanic Whites and 1,244 Mexican Americans. The unmarried were more likely than the married to seek help from informal sources. People with little social support from their spouse or relatives were more likely to consult professional providers. Associations of social resources with help seeking did not decrease substantially when psychiatric disorder was controlled, suggesting that these relationships are direct, rather than being mediated by effects of soda1 support on mental health status. Social resources had similar associations with help seeking among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites.     

Interpersonal Goals and Close Relationship Processes: Potential Links to Health

A substantial body of empirical evidence suggests that social relationships buffer people from poor health. We review a program of research demonstrating how interpersonal goals create relationship processes that shape the quality of close relationships, which we argue may have consequences for own and others’ health. Self‐image goals to construct, maintain, and defend desired images of the self create negative interpersonal dynamics that undermine close relationships and mental health, while compassionate goals to support others’ well‐being create positive interpersonal dynamics that promote close relationships and mental health. We discuss the potential implications of social goals and close relationship processes for health. Finally, we suggest that exploring the independent benefits of giving and receiving in close relationships may inform how social relationships affect health and well‐being.     

Quality of social support in mental and physical health

The current study investigates the relationship between social support and mental and physical health. Results indicate that poor functional support (or quality of support) is related to physical health problems while structural support (or social network size) is not. Moreover, although both poor functional and structural support are related to depression and anxiety, functional support is more strongly related to these outcome variables, the strongest relationship being associated with depression. Depression and hostility are also related to social isolation, although the relationship is again stronger for depression. The results suggest that the quality of social relationships is more important than quantity for optimal mental and physical health. The clinical relevance of these findings is that the quality of social support in the lives of individuals is central to recovery and should be addressed in medical and mental health treatment planning whenever it is an etiological or maintaining factor. The author dedicates this paper to her beloved father, Charles VanderVoort and her colleagues Dr. Uwe Stuecher and Dr. Gay Barfield whom she describes as “natural altruists, the rarest and most loving type of people in the world.”     

Quality of Social Support in Mental and Physical Health

The current study investigates the relationship between social support and mental and physical health. Results indicate that poor functional support (or quality of support) is related to physical health problems while structural support (or social network size) is not. Moreover, although both poor functional and structural support are related to depression and anxiety, functional support is more strongly related to these outcome variables, the strongest relationship being associated with depression. Depression and hostility are also related to social isolation, although the relationship is again stronger for depression. The results suggest that the quality of social relationships is more important than quantity for optimal mental and physical health. The clinical relevance of these findings is that the quality of social support in the lives of individuals is central to recovery and should be addressed in medical and mental health treatment planning whenever it is an etiological or maintaining factor. The author dedicates this paper to her beloved father, Charles VanderVoort and her colleagues Dr. Uwe Stuecher and Dr. Gay Barfield whom she describes as “natural altruists, the rarest and most loving type of people in the world.”     

Mental and physical health of spouse caregivers: the role of personality.

Although personal resources of caregivers, such as coping skills and social support, have been shown to be important in understanding caregiver stress and health outcomes, personality traits have not previously been considered. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the personality traits of neuroticism and dispositional optimism and mental and physical health outcomes. It was predicted that personality would have direct effects, and indirect effects through perceived stress, on health outcomes. Participants were spouse caregivers of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Results showed that neuroticism and optimism were significantly related to mental and physical health. Furthermore, neuroticism had significant direct effects on all of the health outcomes, and substantial indirect effects, through perceived stress, on mental health outcomes. Optimism showed stronger indirect than direct effects on all health outcomes. These findings demonstrate the importance of including personality of the caregiver in theoretical and empirical models of the caregiving process.