•Daily stress is positively linked to tendencies towards Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD).•Offline social support moderates link between daily stress and Facebook use.•Online social support ...positively mediates link between Facebook use and tendencies towards FAD.
The present study investigated the links between daily stress, social support, Facebook use, and Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD). Two varieties of social support were considered, according to the communication channel: offline and online. In a sample of 309 Facebook users (age: M(SD) = 23.76(4.06), range: 18–56), daily stress was positively related to the intensity of Facebook use and to tendencies towards Facebook addiction. The link between daily stress and intensity of Facebook use was negatively moderated by perceived offline social support, indicating that individuals who received low levels of support offline were particularly likely to increase their Facebook use at higher levels of daily stress. Perceived online social support partly mediated the positive relationship between Facebook use intensity and tendencies towards FAD. It is remarkable that Facebook use intensity is systematically related to both positive (i.e., receiving online social support) and negative (i.e., building up FAD) consequences. Thereby, individuals who receive high levels of social support online tend to be at risk for tendencies towards FAD. Thus, while offline social support might protect mental health, online support might influence it negatively. This should be considered when assessing individuals at risk for obsessive Facebook use and when planning interventions to deal with FAD.
Perceived social support has consistently been associated with better psychological well-being, but the pathway(s) through which social support increases positive psychological outcomes (e.g., life ...satisfaction) and reduces negative psychological outcomes (e.g., depression) remain unknown. Potentially, social support may encourage a more balanced, self-forgiving, and positive perspective, which may facilitate better well-being. We investigated the extent to which mindfulness, self-compassion, and savoring accounted for the relation between perceived social support and psychological well-being, as assessed by multiple outcome measures, in college students in the U.S. In Study 1 (N = 1024), greater perceived social support was indirectly related to lower levels of negative psychological well-being outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, dysfunctional attitudes) through mindfulness. In Study 2 (N = 228), we replicated and extended these findings. Perceived social support was significantly associated with greater mindfulness, self-compassion, savoring, and positive psychological well-being outcomes (i.e., psychological well-being, subjective happiness), as well as lower levels of negative psychological well-being outcomes (i.e., depression, perceived stress). Furthermore, mindfulness, self-compassion, and savoring each accounted for the association between perceived social support and these psychological well-being outcomes. These findings suggest three pathways through which perceived social support may improve psychological well-being.
Attachment insecurity predicts greater loneliness, and research has indicated that perceived social support (PSS) is a crucial mediator in this relationship (Bernardon et al., 2011). As social media ...plays an increasing role in shaping the ways in which individuals develop and maintain relationships, it is important to understand how online social perceptions mediate the relationship between attachment insecurity and loneliness. The current study examined online PSS as a mediator in the relationship between attachment and loneliness. Three hundred eighty-five participants recruited from undergraduate psychology classes and the general population (Mage = 25 years) completed a series of questionnaires using the online survey platform Lime Survey. Results indicated that online PSS mediated the relationship between attachment and loneliness. Specifically, greater attachment insecurity predicted less online PSS, which predicted greater loneliness. In addition, regression analyses revealed that online PSS did not uniquely contribute to loneliness over and above offline PSS, whereas offline PSS did predict loneliness over and above online PSS. The latter findings indicate that offline perceptions and relationships remain critical in predicting loneliness. The role of social media as a tool to help attenuate the long-term experience of loneliness is also discussed.
•Online social support mediates the relationship between attachment and loneliness.•Online social support does not uniquely contribute to loneliness.•Offline social support remains critical in predicting loneliness.•Insecurely attached individuals may benefit from online social support.
This handbook gathers the many elements of this burgeoning field and organizes them into a concise, powerful, dynamic knowledge base - theory, research, and applications. Its chapters are written by ...leading experts, including the primary developers of PBS.
•The received–perceived support relationship is affected by the need for support.•This relationship is much stronger when the need for support is controlled for.•The same is true for the relationship ...between received support and mental health.
How do perceptions of being supported relate to the amount of social support received? Received and perceived support have generally been found to be only moderately related. Previous research has however focused on the amount of support received regardless of whether it was needed. We hypothesized that a measure of support received when needed would predict perceived support and well-being better than would an unqualified measure of received support. Study 1 found that correlations between received support and perceived support measures were, on average, twice as high when received support was measured as the proportion of times support was received when needed (average r=.54) than when it was measured as the number of times support was received (average r=.28). Similar results were found for correlations between received support and mental health which rose from r=.04 to r=.31 when need for support was considered. Study 2 replicated the strong relationship between support received when needed and both perceived support and mental health. Received support measures should be adapted to take the need for support into consideration in future investigation of these relationships. Social support interventions may only be beneficial if the recipient’s support needs are not already being met.
This study extended the research on the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial intention by developing a moderated mediation model. This study investigated whether ...entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediates this relationship. Also, this study examines whether the social support moderates this mediation model by conducting a moderated mediation analysis. Using a sample of 500 valid responses from university students, this study established that firstly, entrepreneurial passion positively affects entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Secondly, the indirect effect of entrepreneurial passion on entrepreneurial intention through entrepreneurial self-efficacy was significant and positive. Thirdly, social support had a positive and significant influence on entrepreneurial intention, while the indirect effect of entrepreneurial passion on entrepreneurial intention through entrepreneurial self-efficacy was moderated by social support. The study culminates with practical implications for scholars and policymakers in South Africa.
Previous literature has indicated that perceptions of social support (PSS) may be an important predictor of parental stress levels, particularly for parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum ...disorders (ASD). The current study implemented structural equation modelling to further investigate the relationship between PSS and parental stress in a sample of 454 parents of children diagnosed with ASD. Results indicate that PSS derived from friends was the most important factor in protecting against stress, with PSS from both a significant other and family appearing to be less pervasive in this regard. In addition, the importance of PSS was further underlined by the finding that it remained a significant predictor of parental stress after controlling for the absence/presence of professional support.
The adverse effects of loneliness and of poor perceived social support on physical health and mortality are established, but no systematic synthesis is available of their relationship with the ...outcomes of mental health problems over time. In this systematic review, we aim to examine the evidence on whether loneliness and closely related concepts predict poor outcomes among adults with mental health problems.
We searched six databases and reference lists for longitudinal quantitative studies that examined the relationship between baseline measures of loneliness and poor perceived social support and outcomes at follow up. Thirty-four eligible papers were retrieved. Due to heterogeneity among included studies in clinical populations, predictor measures and outcomes, a narrative synthesis was conducted.
We found substantial evidence from prospective studies that people with depression who perceive their social support as poorer have worse outcomes in terms of symptoms, recovery and social functioning. Loneliness has been investigated much less than perceived social support, but there is some evidence that greater loneliness predicts poorer depression outcome. There is also some preliminary evidence of associations between perceived social support and outcomes in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders.
Loneliness and quality of social support in depression are potential targets for development and testing of interventions, while for other conditions further evidence is needed regarding relationships with outcomes.
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