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PubMed1998

Competence and drug use: theoretical frameworks, empirical evidence and measurement.

Statistics show that use of harmful substances (alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine) among women of childbearing age is widespread and serious. Numerous theoretical models and empirical studies have attempted to explain the complex factors that lead individuals to use drugs. The Social Stress Model of Substance Abuse [1] is one model developed to explain parameters that influence drug use. According to the model, the likelihood of an individual engaging in drug use is seen as a function of the stress level and the extent to which it is offset by stress modifiers such as social networks, social competencies, and resources. The variables of the denominator are viewed as interacting with each other to buffer the impact of stress [1]. This article focuses on one of the constructs in this model: that of competence. It presents a summary of theoretical and conceptual formulations for the construct of competence, a review of empirical evidence for the association of competence with drug use, and describes the preliminary development of a multi-scale instrument designed to assess drug protective competence among low-income Hispanic childbearing women. Based upon theoretical and empirical studies, eight domains of drug protective competence were identified and conceptually defined. Using subscales from existing instruments with psychometric evidence for their validity and reliability, a multi-scale instrument was developed to assess drug protective competence. Hypothesis testing was used to assess construct validity. Four drug protective competence domains (social influence, sociability, self-worth, and control/responsibility) were found to be statistically associated with drug use behaviors. Although not statistically significant, expected trends were observed between drug use and the other four domains of drug protective competence (intimacy, nurturance, goal directedness, and spiritual directedness). Study limitations and suggestions for further psychometric testing of the instrument are described.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

The politics of dependency estimates: Social Security Board statistics, 1935-1939.

State theorists maintain that Social Security Board (SSB) bureaucrats managed the evolution of public welfare. Institutional politics theory more readily accepts the influences of political interest groups. SSB archival records offer an opportunity to contrast these models and explore the early measurement of old age dependency. In reports designed to protect the 1935 Social Security Act, SSB staff exaggerated the extent of dependency among elderly persons. By 1939, Board statistics clearly showed that children were more impoverished than aged persons. SSB leadership did not repudiate prior estimates and they accepted rising transfers to aged persons, largely because of the political power of interest groups interested in flat pensions. While bureaucrats attempted to control events, an institutional politics approach better explains both the pivotal role of other, political actors and the solidification of the myth of old age impoverishment.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2003

Freshwater as shared between society and ecosystems: from divided approaches to integrated challenges.

The paper has its focus on water's key functions behind ecosystem dynamics and the water-related balancing involved in a catchment-based ecosystem approach. A conceptual framework is being developed to address fundamental trade-offs between humans and ecosystems. This is done by paying attention to society's unavoidable landscape modifications and their unavoidable ecological effects mediated by water processes. Because the coevolution of societal and environmental processes indicates resonance rather than a cause-effect relationship, humanity will have to learn to live with change while securing ecosystem resilience. In view of the partial incompatibility of the social imperative of the millennium goals and its environmental sustainability goal, human activities and ecosystems have to be orchestrated for compatibility. To this end a catchment-based approach has to be taken by integrating water, land use and ecosystems. It is being suggested that ecosystem protection has to be thought of in two scales: site-specific biotic landscape components to be protected for their social value, and a catchment-based ecosystem approach to secure sustainable supply of crucial ecosystem goods and services on which social and economic development depends.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2006

Quality of life and resilience in adolescents with a mobility disability.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the influences from life stress and the hypothesized protective variables of social competence, family functioning, and peer social engagement on quality of life (QL) in adolescents with mobility disabilities within a stress-resilience model. METHODS: Variables were assessed with questionnaires completed by 159 adolescents with a mobility disability (aged 11-18 years) and their parents. Both more subjective and objective QL measures were completed using both adolescent and parent reports. RESULTS: Increased life stress was associated with worse QL. Hypothesized protective variables were used to explain significant variance in more subjective, but not objective, measures of QL beyond covariates and life stress. The hypothesized protective variables, however, did not moderate the effects of life stress on QL. There was a cumulative effect from the hypothesized protective variables such that adolescents with more of these factors had more subjective QL than those with just one factor, regardless of the specific factor. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the tested model, interventions to improve QL in adolescents with a mobility disability may focus on reducing life stress and developing resilience by enhancing a variety of personal and social resources.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Current trends in the understanding and treatment of social phobia in youth.

Social phobia is a common psychiatric problem in children and adolescents that has recently gained serious attention in clinical practice and research. This article describes the clinical presentation of social phobia and reviews several emergent areas of related research to social phobia in children and adolescents. We begin with a summary of research regarding the developmental pathways of childhood social anxiety into social phobia, highlighting normative developmental factors, behavioral inhibition, pathophysiology, genetics, and parenting/environmental factors. This is followed by a critical review of findings from studies providing evidence for and against the existence of subtypes of social phobia. Common comorbid disorders and sequelae of social phobia in children and adolescents are discussed, bringing to attention the critical need for effective treatments, the current status of which is reviewed in the final section. In sum, this review demonstrates that through research in multiple disciplines, scientists are now developing a better understanding of the risk and protective factors of social phobia in children and adolescents, ultimately leading to improvements in primary prevention and intervention efforts for children at serious risk for long-term problems with education, employment, social relationships, and independent adult functioning.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1991

"Isolation stress" revisited: isolation-rearing effects depend on animal care methods.

Early reports of enhanced behavioral reactivity in isolation-reared rats attributed this syndrome to "isolation stress." In the studies reported here, this "isolation stress syndrome" was reliably obtained in adult rats reared from weaning in individual hanging metal cages. Such isolates showed behavioral and adrenocortical symptoms of profound fear during open-field testing, unlike group-housed controls or littermate isolates reared singly in plastic cages. Animals in hanging metal cages are never touched by human caretakers, whereas rats reared in plastic cages are picked up and put in clean cages twice weekly. Handling hanging-cage isolates twice weekly to model the handling associated with cage changes completely protected against this syndrome. Further, there was no hormonal, neurochemical or anatomical evidence of chronic stress even in hanging-cage isolates. Littermates housed in social groupings (three rats per plastic cage) also froze and defecated in the open field at rates comparable to hanging-cage isolates if they were the first animals to be tested from their social group cage. It is probable that odor cues from familiar cagemates in the open field protected socially reared animals tested subsequently from the same cage from this syndrome. It is concluded that isolates are not chronically stressed, and that rearing effects are the result of a complex interaction between prior handling, social experience and test conditions.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Social and cultural factors influencing health in southern West Virginia: a qualitative study.

INTRODUCTION: Social, cultural, and economic environments are associated with high rates of disease incidence and mortality in poor Appalachian regions of the United States. Although many historical studies suggest that aspects of Appalachian culture (e.g., fatalism, patriarchy) include values and beliefs that may put Appalachians at risk for poor health, other cultural aspects may be protective (e.g., strong social ties). Few recent studies have explored regional cultural issues qualitatively. The purpose of this study was to examine social and cultural factors that may be associated with health and illness in an Appalachian region. METHODS: Ten focus groups were conducted in southern West Virginia and included five groups of men and five groups of women. Cultural norms associated with residents of rural Appalachia, such as faith, family values, and patriarchy, were examined. RESULTS: Both men and women in the focus groups have a sense of place, strong family ties, and a strong spiritual belief or faith in God. Patriarchy as a cultural value was not a strong factor. CONCLUSION: There are limits to how qualitative data may be used, but findings from this study help increase understanding of the social and cultural environments of people living in rural Appalachia and how these environments may affect health.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Social support and the quality of parenting under economic pressure and workload in Finland: the role of family structure and parental gender.

This study focused on how factors outside the home affect the quality of mothering and fathering. Economic pressure and workload were evaluated along with the compensating role of social support on parenting. Information was gathered from 842 mothers and 573 fathers including 139 single-mother and 21 single-father families. The results showed that the nature of the strains, together with parental gender and family structure, influenced their effects on parenting. The results further revealed some gender- and strain-specific protective functions of social support on parenting. For example, economic pressure was related to increased punitive parenting, which was compensated by instrumental and emotional support among the mothers. Workload was related to less authoritative single fathering, which was compensated by instrumental support.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Relationship of social support to stress responses and immune function in healthy and asthmatic adolescents.

Although most clinicians believe that social support has beneficial effects on health, the mechanisms mediating this relationship have not been clearly established. We examined the direct effect of social support on several immune measures and its role in moderating the response to academic exams in healthy and asthmatic adolescents. Three types of students--healthy, mild asthma, and severe asthma--completed social support and stress questionnaires and gave blood samples during the midsemester and final exam periods. Social support and natural killer cell (NK) function showed a significant reduction during exams in both healthy and asthmatic adolescents. Social support, however, did not have a direct effect on immune responses. Nevertheless, high social support appeared to attenuate the magnitude of exam-induced reduction in NK activity, suggesting a role for social support in protecting against immune decrements during times of stress.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Protective resources and perceptions of stress in a multi-ethnic sample of school-age children.

PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship among protective resources of social connectedness, coping skills, and the perception of stress in 613 Hispanic and White school-aged children. METHODS: A secondary analysis of data, part of a longitudinal cohort-sequential study designed to investigate health-risk behaviors in school-age children. Data were collected by computer-assisted self-interviewing from a non-probability sample of 8-12-year-olds in three independent school districts. FINDINGS: Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that social connectedness and the frequency of coping strategies used accounted for 18.8% of the variation in stress. "Feeling sick" was the primary stressor of the participants, while the two most frequently endorsed coping strategies were "watch TV or listen to music" and "draw, write, or read something." CONCLUSION: The findings are significant because nurses working with children are in a strategic position to assess risk factors and protective resources related to stress and intervene in a timely manner to assist children and families develop resiliency.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

Intimate partner violence: causes and prevention.

Unlike many health problems, there are few social and demographic characteristics that define risk groups for intimate partner violence. Poverty is the exception and increases risk through effects on conflict, women's power, and male identity. Violence is used as a strategy in conflict. Relationships full of conflict, and especially those in which conflicts occur about finances, jealousy, and women's gender role transgressions are more violent than peaceful relationships. Heavy alcohol consumption also increases risk of violence. Women who are more empowered educationally, economically, and socially are most protected, but below this high level the relation between empowerment and risk of violence is non-linear. Violence is frequently used to resolve a crisis of male identity, at times caused by poverty or an inability to control women. Risk of violence is greatest in societies where the use of violence in many situations is a socially-accepted norm. Primary preventive interventions should focus on improving the status of women and reducing norms of violence, poverty, and alcohol consumption.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed2002

[Alcohol problems in adolescence with reference to high risk children of alcoholic parents. Results of a family study in Mecklenburg Vorpommern].

In earlier studies, children of alcoholics (COAs) reported more alcohol and drug problems and higher levels of maladaptive behaviour and psychiatric distress than non-COAs. However, increased exposure to drugs and alcohol among COAs does not fully explain this phenomenon. In our family-based study design, we were able to investigate specific risk factors for alcohol problems in adolescence. In a first step, we compared a variety of psychosocial risk factors in 90 adolescents (12-18 years of age) from families with at least one alcohol-abusing parent with those of 90 adolescents of parents without alcohol disorders. In a second step, we investigated the meaning of all included risk factors for alcohol problems of the adolescents. Our results give some support to the existence of a lower extent of emotional warmth and support by parents of children in the COA sample. Moreover, males of the COA group reported more parental rejection and higher values on measures of attention problems and anxiety/depression than controls, whereas there were no such differences between females of the COA group and their control counterparts. Additionally, logistic regression analysis revealed that only the membership in a substance-using peer group and higher age are important risk factors for alcohol problems during adolescence. Considering our results, it is of great importance (a) to identify families at risk at the earliest possible stage and (b) to develop intervention and prevention programs further for parents and children to increase social competence and protect children at risk from later alcohol abuse.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Informal work and common mental disorders.

BACKGROUND: In many developing countries, a large proportion of people work without the social and legislative protection accorded to those in the "formal" labour market. Formal and informal work are very distinct labour market destinations for those leaving unemployment. From a policy perspective, the value of encouraging unemployed people to take informal work depends both on how quickly individuals can be moved out of unemployment into informal work compared to other destinations, and how well individuals fare once in informal work. This paper investigates the association between informal work and common mental disorders in Northeast Brazil. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey of a random sample of private households included 683 adults aged 15 years and over living in area II of Olinda, Recife Metropolitan Region, Pernambuco, Brazil. Informal workers comprised self-employed and underemployed. The self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ) was used to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders. RESULTS: Informal workers had a higher prevalence of common mental disorders compared to those in formal employment. This was true before and after adjustment for sex, age, marital status and migration (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.3-3.7) and for education and household per capita monthly income (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.1-3.1). CONCLUSIONS: Understanding causes of common mental disorders in different societies requires an understanding of the differing socioeconomic circumstances around the world. Working outside the protection of employment legislation is very common in many poorer countries and may have adverse consequences for psychological health.

Adult↗