Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Donald A. Saucier / Research on contemporary sexism suggests that sexism has many different forms and they influence women differently. Evidence shows that women who experience subtle forms of sexism (e.g., modern and benevolent sexism) feel anxious and less competent, yet are less likely to identify these forms of sexism as prejudice against women. Because research suggests that social support is related to better psychological outcomes, we hypothesized that higher levels of perceived social support would be associated with better psychological outcomes among female participants who experienced sexism. In addition, receiving a supportive message after experiencing sexism would buffer the negative psychological effects of sexism, and thus the participants would perform better on a problem-solving task. However, the results only partially supported the hypotheses. Higher levels of perceived social support were indeed associated with better psychological outcomes, but participants who experienced sexism did not differ significantly from those who did not experience sexism regarding psychological outcomes. Further, receiving social support after experiencing sexism did not produce significant improvements on the problem-solving task, though participants who experienced modern sexism did report an increase in hostile affect if they did not receive social support. Possible reasons for the findings are discussed.

The minority stress theory suggests LGBs experience greater stress levels due to their sexual minority identities; thus, they are more prone to psychological distress. Poor mental health is linked to internalized homophobia and heterosexism. However, affirmative social support may mitigate the stress response via the buffering hypothesis. My model posits that LGBs are more likely to report perceived stress; however, affirmative social support can mitigate stress. I investigated the relationship between perceived stress and sexual minority identity. I explored the relationship between heterosexism, emotional support and perceived stress and the moderating role of social support in my LGB sample. I conducted a hierarchical linear regression to test my model, which accounted for 29% of the variance in perceived stress. Heterosexism and emotional support were significantly associated with perceived stress. I failed to find a moderating role of emotional support. Limitations, strengths, future research and implications are discussed.

Objectives: The current study aimed to profile the personality styles, expectations and psychological adaptation of Clinical Psychology Trainees. It also aimed to look at the relationship between these variables. Design: A cross-sectional postal questionnaire study, employing between group and correlational analyses. Methods: A sample of 364 psychologists in clinical training (57% response rate) from 15 UK clinical psychology training courses participated in the study. They completed questionnaires of personality, psychological adaptation, social support and an expectations measure specifically designed for the study. Results: The majority of psychologists in clinical training who participated in the study were well adjusted in terms of personality, did not experience extensive problems with psychological adaptation, and had the majority of their expectations met. A significant sub group reported personality adjustment problems and problems with self esteem, anxiety, depression and work adjustment. Low self esteem was present in just under a quarter of the sample. Personality adjustment was found to be related to expectations and psychological adaptation. Trainee psychologists with poorer personality adjustment were less likely to have their expectations met, especially with regard to the impact of training on their life, and were more likely to suffer from poor psychological adaptation, particularly in terms of low self esteem, anxiety, depression and work adjustment problems. Self esteem was related to discrepancies in actual and ideal social support. Some differences were found between year groups. Gender and age were not related to personality adjustment, psychological adaptation or expectations. Conclusions and Implications: The findings were discussed in terms of the interpretation of personality style. Implications for clinical psychology training and the profession of clinical psychology were considered.

To gain an understanding of children’s social milieu, this study explored international children’s phenomenology about their social networks, stressors, and supports using the ecomap, a graphic tool that maps children’s social relationships and their appraisals of them. Specifically, it addressed the following two research questions using archival ecomap data collected from 816 school-aged children (ages four – 19 years) from 14 cities in 12 countries (Brazil – Manaus, Estonia – Tallinn, Greece – Athens, India – Mumbai, Italy – Padua, Mexico – Xalapa, Romania – Bucharest, Russia – Samara, Slovak Republic – Košice, Sri Lanka – Negombo, Tanzania – Arusha, and the United States – Boston, Massachusetts; Mayagüez, Puerto Rico; New Orleans, Louisiana): (a) What are the characteristics of international children’s social networks, and what cross-cultural patterns exist; and (b) Who and what do children consider their social supports and social stressors, and what cross-cultural patterns emerge? The nature of the ecomap drawings and their associated narratives allowed for a concurrent mixed methods approach to be used to identify cross-cultural phenomenological patterns about the structures (network size, embeddedness, and network composition), functions (stressor and support types), and evaluations (relationship appraisals) of children’s social worlds. Considerable diversity was found in the data, but a number of notable cross-site, cross-gender, and cross-age patterns were identified. In general, children in this sample reported a trimmed mean network size of 7.87 (SD = 3.61), with middle school students reporting the largest (M = 8.78). Embeddedness, measured as the balance of perceived stress and supports (Nastasi & Borja, 2015; Summerville, 2013), also was generally positive, suggesting that children generally perceive themselves to be connected to their social networks. Most commonly reported members included home parent/caregivers, friends/peers, extended family members, and siblings; and across grade levels, sites, and gender, network members were generally appraised positively. When asked about the ways that network members support or trigger distress, youth in this sample described over 50 stress and support themes, most of which related to interpersonal relationships and interactions. The results of the current study not only contributes to the literature on children’s stressors and supports, but also build on Nastasi and colleagues’ Promoting Psychological Well-Being Globally project (PPWBG; Nastasi & Borja, 2015), whose international team collected the ecomap data to understand children’s well-being and the culturally- and developmentally-unique factors that influence them. / 1 / Amanda P Borja

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine whether self-esteem can be affected by unemployment and whether social support, self efficacy and perceived control have any effects on self-esteem during unemployment.   Method: The study was of a quantitative and descriptive character and a convenience sample was used. Questionnaires were distributed to 64 unemployed males and females at a job-centre inEast Midland,England. The questionnaire consisted of 12 questions about the participant’s age, gender, education, length of unemployment, social support (meaning emotional support and help from friends and family), coping (meaning a person’s ability to handle a stressful and emotionally demanding situation).Rosenberg's self-esteem scale was also added into the questionnaire and the results were then analyzed by using a Likert scale.   Results: The results showed, that the majority of the unemployed scored 30 or higher on the self-esteem scale which indicates a low self-esteem according toRosenberg's self-esteem scale. Regarding social support from friends during job loss or unemployment, the majority of the unemployed with a low self-esteem, felt they didn't have social support from friends during unemployment. A small part of the unemployed who had high self-esteem, felt they had social support from friends during unemployment.   Discussion: Self-esteem is complex, and it was difficult to generalize the results in this study. However, it seems that social support, self efficacy and coping were important aspects regarding self-esteem.

The study has investigated the loneliness facts influencing the foreign workers in Taiwan, and has discovered the relationship between loneliness and the mediating effects of social support by demographic variables. The target of the study were foreign workers who had came from Thailand, Vietname, and the Philippines. The questionnaires were collected by a hospital and there were 725 valid returns within 35.55% married samples and 64.45% single samples. Using hierarchical regression and path analysis to test the mediating effects of social support, the findings are: 1. work support and health care support were mediating effective for loneliness; 2. native country contact support have direct effects, but the most significant effect was by group support. Regarding the implementation of foreign worker management, it can enforce the already lacking work and health care support of the foreign workers might reduce the negative effect of loneliness, and thus improves the heart, mind and healthy of these workers.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 331-353). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

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This work analyzes the peculiarities of social support rendering for problem families, raising children. Problem families outlive changes painfully and appear in difficult situations; therefore their abilities to successfully take care of themselves and their children weaken. This work is relevant because it discusses the possibilities to make the system of social support rendering for problem families more efficient and more socially secure. The aim of the research is to analyze the structure of social support system, examine the peculiarities of rendering the support for problem families, raising children. The objectives of the research were to discuss the concept of problem family and their living peculiarities; analyze laws of the Republic of Lithuania and other law acts, regulating social support for problem families, raising children; find out the peculiarities and structural parts of social support for problem families in Trakai municipality; find out the problem families social support needs in Trakai region and distinguish kinds of support rendering. The aim of the research was to find out social support rendering arrangement for problem families, raising children in Trakai municipality. During individual interview it was aimed to learn the attitude of experts – law and other juridical act projects and proposals organizers, towards social service rendering for problem families, raising children tendencies in Lithuania. The experts were 4 Parliament members, working... [to full text]

The purpose of this study was to explore specific types of informal social relationships- family or friends formed in nursing homes and to determine how each affected the health of the elderly, especially in the areas of loneliness and depression. A face-to-face interview using four structured questionnaires was adopted for this descriptive study design. The main outcomes of depression and loneliness were measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and University of California Loneliness Scale (UCLA). The Duke Inventory Social Support Scale, measuring both family and friend support separately, measured predictor variables of family and friend support. Eighty-seven percent of participants completed the study. The results indicate that friend support was a more reliable factor for predicting the levels of loneliness and depression after controlling for all other co-founding variables. The findings will help nurses and other health care personnel when assessing the social support networks, beliefs and preferences of older adults to plan and implement the best practices. This will also offer health care facilities suggested ways to reduce or combat loneliness and depression among the elderly people. / Thesis (Master, Nursing) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-16 20:34:22.965