scholarly journals What does social support sound like? Challenges and opportunities for using passive episodic audio collection to assess the social environment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anubhuti Poudyal ◽  
Alastair van Heerden ◽  
Ashley Hagaman ◽  
Celia Islam ◽  
Ada Thapa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Adolescent Mothers ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The Social ◽  
Audio Data

Abstract Background: The social environment, including social support, social burden, and quality of interactions, influences a range of health outcomes, including mental health. Passive audio data collection on mobile phones (e.g., episodic recording of the auditory environment without requiring any active input from the phone user) enables new opportunities to understand the social environment. We evaluated the use of passive audio collection on mobile phones as a window onto the relationship between the social environment within a study of mental health among adolescent mothers in Nepal.Methods: We enrolled 23 adolescent mothers who first participated in qualitative interviews to describe their social support and identify sounds potentially associated with that support. Then episodic recordings were collected for two weeks from the same women using an app to capture 30 seconds of audio every 15 minutes from 4am to 9pm. Audio data were processed and classified using a pretrained model. Each classification category was accompanied by a predicted accuracy score. Manual validation of the machine-predicted speech and non-speech categories (10%) was done for accuracy.Results: In qualitative interviews, mothers described a range of positive and negative social interactions and the sounds that accompanied these. Potential positive sounds included adult speech and laughter, baby babbling and laughter, and sounds from baby toys. Sounds characterizing negative stimuli included yelling, crying, screaming by adults and crying by babies. Sounds associated with social isolation included silence and TV or radio noises. Speech comprised of 43% of all passively recorded audio clips (n=7725). Manual validation showed a 23% false positive rate and 62% false-negative rate for speech, demonstrating potential underestimation of speech exposure. Other common sounds included music and vehicular noises.Conclusions: Passively capturing audio has the potential to improve understanding of the social environment. However, the limited accuracy of the pre-trained model used in this study did not adequately distinguish between positive and negative social interactions. To improve the contribution of passive audio collection to understanding the social environment, future work should improve the accuracy of audio categorization, code for constellations of sounds, and combine audio with other smartphone data collection such as location and activity.

scholarly journals What Does Social Support Sound Like? Challenges and Opportunities for Using Passive Episodic Audio Collection to Assess the Social Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anubhuti Poudyal ◽  
Alastair van Heerden ◽  
Ashley Hagaman ◽  
Celia Islam ◽  
Ada Thapa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Young Mothers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Audio Data

Background: The social environment, comprised of social support, social burden, and quality of interactions, influences a range of health outcomes, including mental health. Passive audio data collection on mobile phones (e.g., episodic recording of the auditory environment without requiring any active input from the phone user) enables new opportunities to understand the social environment. We evaluated the use of passive audio collection on mobile phones as a window into the social environment while conducting a study of mental health among adolescent and young mothers in Nepal.Methods: We enrolled 23 adolescent and young mothers who first participated in qualitative interviews to describe their social support and identify sounds potentially associated with that support. Then, episodic recordings were collected for 2 weeks from the mothers using an app to record 30 s of audio every 15 min from 4 A.M. to 9 P.M. Audio data were processed and classified using a pretrained model. Each classification category was accompanied by an estimated accuracy score. Manual validation of the machine-predicted speech and non-speech categories was done for accuracy.Results: In qualitative interviews, mothers described a range of positive and negative social interactions and the sounds that accompanied these. Potential positive sounds included adult speech and laughter, infant babbling and laughter, and sounds from baby toys. Sounds characterizing negative stimuli included yelling, crying, screaming by adults and crying by infants. Sounds associated with social isolation included silence and TV or radio noises. Speech comprised 43% of all passively recorded audio clips (n = 7,725). Manual validation showed a 23% false positive rate and 62% false-negative rate for speech, demonstrating potential underestimation of speech exposure. Other common sounds were music and vehicular noises.Conclusions: Passively capturing audio has the potential to improve understanding of the social environment. However, a pre-trained model had the limited accuracy for identifying speech and lacked categories allowing distinction between positive and negative social interactions. To improve the contribution of passive audio collection to understanding the social environment, future work should improve the accuracy of audio categorization, code for constellations of sounds, and combine audio with other smartphone data collection such as location and activity.

How Relationship Satisfaction Influences Post-Pandemic COVID-19 Anxiety: A Four-Wave Study in China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyi Ou ◽  
yunhanqi ◽  
Ke Zhang ◽  
Yuexiao Du ◽  
Yihang He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Perceived Social Support ◽  
The Social

The social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic exerts lasing impacts on people’s mental health. However, whether and how people’s pre-existing positive social relationships can serve as stable reserves to alleviate people psychological distress following the disaster remains unknown. To address the question, the current study examined whether pre-pandemic relationship satisfaction would predict post-pandemic COVID-19 anxiety through middle-pandemic perceived social support and/or gratitude using four-wave data in China (N = 222, 54.50% female, Mage = 31.53, SD = 8.17). Results showed that people’s COVID-19 anxiety decreased from the peak to the trough pandemic stage; perceived social support increased markedly from the pre-pandemic to the peak and remained stable afterwards, while relationship satisfaction remained unchanged throughout. Further, it was middle-pandemic perceived social support, but not gratitude, mediated the association between pre-pandemic relationship satisfaction and post-pandemic COVID-19 anxiety, indicating perceived social support played a more crucial role than gratitude in this process. Last, it is suggested to distinguish perceived social support from gratitude as two different components of social interactions.

Case Management and Social Support System for Families in Distress: A Social Work Response

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
W akar Amin
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Case Management ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Support System ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Support System ◽  
The Disappeared

History is witness to the fact that warring factions in any armed conflict often commit several human rights violations like murder, rape, torture etc., and the act of disappearance of person is one among them. While the persons who are subjected to disappearance are the primary victims, the families they leave behind are the secondary victims. The situation makes families of the disappeared person suffer great anguish when their loved ones go disappeared. The phenomenon produces anguish, fear and unspeakable sorrow for thousands of families. Appreciating the importance of social work professionals in helping families deal effective with their life situations the present paper aims to provide a case for social work interventional techniques of Social Support System (SSS) and Case Management to modify and make the social environment conducive for the families to live a normal life.

scholarly journals The social support, mental health, psychiatric symptoms, and functioning of persons with schizophrenia participating in peer co-delivered vocational rehabilitation: a pilot study in Taiwan

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kan-Yuan Cheng ◽  
Chia-Feng Yen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Vocational Rehabilitation ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
The Social ◽  
Functional Scores ◽  
Persons With Schizophrenia

Abstract Background Vocational peer support (VPS) services are recovery-oriented interventions in modern psychiatric care for persons with schizophrenia. However, few VPS services are found in Taiwan. Hence, a pilot program of peer co-delivered vocational rehabilitation to support persons with schizophrenia in Taiwan was proposed and evaluated. Methods Six peers were trained and were willing to co-lead and assist workplace problem-solving groups and care skills training in an extended vocational rehabilitation program from August 2017 to December 2018. The social support, mental health, psychiatric symptoms, and functioning of service users were assessed before and after peer co-delivered services, and the assessments were based on the following: Social Support Scale (SSS), Chinese Health Questionnaire-12 (CHQ-12), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Global Assessment of Function (GAF), and the Chinese version of the Social Functioning Scale (C-SFS). Results The recruited 46 service users were mostly middle-aged (49.1 ± 9.8), with 27 being male (58.7%). After interventions, 42 service users who completed the program had a significantly increased SSS score (149.1 ± 31.8 vs. 161.2 ± 35.0, df = 41, t = 2.70, p = 0.01) and subscale of friend-peer dimension (44.4 ± 12.0 vs. 53.2 ± 13.2, df = 41, t = 4.72, p < 0.001). The objective (GAF: 69.8 ± 9.8 vs. 72.6 ± 8.8, df = 41, t = 3.50, p = 0.001) and subjective social functional scores (C-SFS: 75.2 ± 8.8 vs. 78.1 ± 9.5, df = 41, t = 2.59, p = 0.01) both significantly increased. The weekly wage elevated significantly (37.5 ± 35.5 vs. 43.6 ± 38.0, df = 41, t = 2.57, p = 0.01) and the BPRS-18 score decreased significantly, too (31.2 ± 6.7 vs. 29.3 ± 5.0, df = 41, t = − 2.83, p = 0.007). Conclusions Peer co-delivered vocational rehabilitation services may enhance the social support received by persons with schizophrenia and improve their occupational outcomes. The pilot program proposed can thus be a model for non-Western countries with limited resources allocated by governments to support persons with schizophrenia. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials NCT04767204, retrospectively registered on Feb 23, 2021.

Perceptions of Social Support in Doctoral Programs among Minority Students

2000 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 1003-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith B. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
African American ◽  
Native American ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
The Social

This study examined the perceptions of social support reported by 70 African-American, 44 Hispanic, 20 Native-American, and 69 Asian-American doctoral students ( N = 203) concerning their experiences in graduate school. The Doctoral Student Survey was used to measure the levels and types of social support provided. One-way analysis of variance of mean scores indicated that a majority of doctoral students perceived the academic environment on campus and faculty advisers to be strong sources of social support, while perceiving the social environment on campus as unsupportive of their progress. The African-American and Native-American doctoral students perceived the social environment on campus to be less supportive than did the Hispanic and Asian-American doctoral students, and Native-American doctoral students perceived their departments to be less supportive than did the African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American doctoral students.

scholarly journals The Social Environment’s Relationship With Frailty: Evidence From Existing Studies

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daan Duppen ◽  
Michaël C. J. Van der Elst ◽  
Sarah Dury ◽  
Deborah Lambotte ◽  
Liesbeth De Donder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Social Participation ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family

Increasingly, policymakers assume that informal networks will provide care for frail older people. While the literature has mainly discussed the role of the family, broader social networks are also considered to be important. However, these social networks can diminish in later life. This systematic review investigates whether the social environment increases the risk of frailty or helps to prevent it. Findings from 15 original studies were classified using five different factors, which denoted five dimensions of the social environment: (a) social networks, (b) social support, (c) social participation, (d) subjective neighborhood experience, and (e) socioeconomic neighborhood characteristics. The discussion highlights that the social environment and frailty are indeed related, and how the neighborhood dimensions and social participation had more consistent results than social support and social networks. Conclusively, recommendations are formulated to contemplate all dimensions of the social environment for further research examining frailty and community care.

Social Interaction Style in Autism: An Inquiry into Phenomenological Methodology

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-192
Author(s):  
Sofie Boldsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Ongoing Study ◽  
Interaction Style ◽  
Approaches To Studying ◽  
The Social ◽  
Phenomenological Methodology

Abstract Autistic difficulties with social interaction have primarily been understood as expressions of underlying impairment of the ability to ‘mindread.’ Although this understanding of autism and social interaction has raised controversy in the phenomenological community for decades, the phenomenological criticism remains largely on a philosophical level. This article helps fill this gap by discussing how phenomenology can contribute to empirical methodologies for studying social interaction in autism. By drawing on the phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and qualitative data from an ongoing study on social interaction in autism, I discuss how qualitative interviews and participant observation can yield phenomenologically salient data on social interaction. Both, I argue, enjoy their phenomenological promise through facilitating attention to the social-spatial-material fields in and through which social interactions and experiences arise. By developing phenomenologically sound approaches to studying social interaction, this article helps resolve the deficiency of knowledge concerning experiential dimensions of social interaction in autism.

The wider social system

2021 ◽  
pp. 238-281
Author(s):  
Robbie Duschinsky ◽  
Sarah Foster
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Social System ◽  
Public Mental Health ◽  
Epistemic Trust ◽  
School Based ◽  
System P ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual

Critics have alleged that in attempting to adapt to the individual-centric environment of contemporary health provision, mentalization-based therapy itself has been complicit with the atomization of society. Conversations with his colleague Peter Fuggle and Dickon Bevington at the Anna Freud Centre have also had a profound role in highlighting to Fonagy the importance of the wider social system around the individual. Pursuing these questions, this chapter begins by examining the growing attention to the social environment shown by Fonagy and colleagues, and especially their exploration of the role of friends and friendships for mentalization and epistemic trust. It will then examine the reflections and research by Fonagy and collaborators on public mental health. The researchers’ hopes regarding school-based prevention will be given particular attention, and the chapter will also show how this work has shaped Fonagy’s efforts as a policy influencer. Finally, the chapter will appraise the considerations offered by Fonagy and colleagues of the role of culture, in particular the issue of whether attention to cultural processes should be regarded as mentalizing, non-mentalizing or as not mentalizing, and whether organizations and societies can themselves be said to institutionalize cultures of mentalizing or non-mentalizing.

scholarly journals Doing and rethinking. Building resilience with men

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Robinson ◽  
Steve Robertson ◽  
Mary Steen ◽  
Gary Raine ◽  
Rhiannon Day
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Resilience Intervention ◽  
And Coping

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present findings from an evaluation of a mental health resilience intervention for unemployed men aged 45-60. The focus is on examining the place of activities within a multi-dimensional men’s mental health programme, and exploring interactions between social context factors and models of change. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on before and after survey data and qualitative interviews, to report results concerning effectiveness in changing men’s perceived resilience, to consider project processes concerning activities, social support and coping strategies, and to situate these within wider environments. Findings – The programme significantly raised the perceived resilience of participants. Activities were engaging for men, while the complex intersection between activities, social networking, and coping strategies course provided opportunities for men to develop resilience in contexts resonant with their male identities. Research limitations/implications – A limitation is that the evaluation could not measure longer term impacts. Practical implications – The paper discusses emerging considerations for resilience building, focusing on gender-sensitive approaches which can engage and retain men by focusing on doing and talking, in the contexts of men’s life-course, highlighting embodied (male) identities not disembodied “mental states”, and facilitating social support. There are challenges to recruit men despite stigma, support men to speak of feelings, and facilitate progression. Social implications – Potential exists for gender-aware programmes to sustain salutogenic change, co-producing social assets of peer support, male-friendly activities, and context sensitive course provision. Originality/value – The paper adds fresh evidence of gendered intervention approaches, including effects on male resilience. Application of a context-sensitive change model leads to multi-component findings for transferring and sustaining programme gains.

The Social Price of Constant Connectivity: Smartphones Impose Subtle Costs on Well-Being

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kostadin Kushlev ◽  
Ryan Dwyer ◽  
Elizabeth W. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Mobile Technology ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sampling Studies ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Smartphone Use

Smartphones provide people with a variety of benefits, but they may also impose subtle social costs. We propose that being constantly connected undercuts the emotional benefits of face-to-face social interactions in two ways. First, smartphone use may diminish the emotional benefits of ongoing social interactions by preventing us from giving our full attention to friends and family in our immediate social environment. Second, smartphones may lead people to miss out on the emotional benefits of casual social interactions by supplanting such interactions altogether. Across field experiments and experience-sampling studies, we find that smartphones consistently interfere with the emotional benefits people could otherwise reap from their broader social environment. We also find that the costs of smartphone use are fairly subtle, contrary to proclamations in the popular press that smartphones are ruining our social lives. By highlighting how smartphones affect the benefits we derive from our broader social environment, this work provides a foundation for building theory and research on the consequences of mobile technology for human well-being.

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