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In times of crisis, when institutions of power are laid bare, people turn to one another. Pandemic Solidarity collects firsthand experiences from around the world of people creating their own narratives of solidarity and mutual aid in the time of the global crisis of Covid-19. The world’s media was quick to weave a narrative of selfish individualism, full of empty supermarket shelves and con-men. However, if you scratch the surface, you find a different story of community and self-sacrifice. Looking at eighteen countries and regions, including India, Rojava, Taiwan, South Africa, Iraq and North America, the personal accounts in the book weave together to create a larger picture, revealing a universality of experience. Moving beyond the present, these stories reveal what an alternative society could look like, and reflect the skills and relationships we already have to create that society, challenging institutions of power that have already shown their fragility.

Never in human history have there been so many people entering old age—roughly one-third of whom will experience some form of neurodegeneration as they age. This seismic demographic shift will force us all to rethink how we live and deal with our aging population. Susan H. McFadden and John T. McFadden propose a radical reconstruction of our societal understanding of old age. Rather than categorizing elders based on their cognitive consciousness, the McFaddens contend that the only humanistic, supportive, and realistic approach is to find new ways to honor and recognize the dignity, worth, and personhood of those journeying into dementia. Doing so, they argue, counters the common view of dementia as a personal tragedy shared only by close family members and replaces it with the understanding that we are all living with dementia as the baby boomers age, particularly as early screening becomes more common and as a cure remains elusive. The McFaddens' inclusive vision calls for social institutions, especially faith communities, to build supportive, ongoing friendships that offer hospitality to all persons, regardless of cognitive status. Drawing on medicine, social science, philosophy, and religion to provide a broad perspective on aging, Aging Together offers a vision of relationships filled with love, joy, and hope in the face of a condition that all too often elicits anxiety, hopelessness, and despair.

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.

Social support plays a vital role in the health of HIV/AIDS patients, but there needs to be a validated instrument to measure social support in Vietnam. This cross-sectional study was to validate a Vietnamese translation of the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (MSPSS). The study had three stages: [1] translation to Vietnamese, [2] pilot testing, and [3] validation of the translation. Stage 1, including forward and backward translation by four independent translators, resulted in a good content validity translation. Pilot testing was done on 30 HIV/AIDS patients: the translation was understandable, and no change was required. Five hundred HIV/AIDS patients were recruited in stage 3. The translation had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.90), good test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient: 0.95), and good concurrent validity. Construct validity was well established by confirmatory factor analysis. The Vietnamese translation of the MSPSS is reliable and valuable for measuring perceived social support.

In this groundbreaking book, experts show what a difference support systems—family, friends, community and social programs—can make towards the recovery of the millions of people who suffer a traumatic brain injury each year. Health and Healing after Traumatic Brain Injury: Understanding the Power of Family, Friends, Community, and Other Support Systems stresses the importance of an integrated and systems approach to healing. This book offers a unique combination of practitioner perspectives on what works for individual patients, consumer stories and learned insights over time, as well as researcher insights from innovative programs. It provides a holistic account of the important factors in living with a brain injury that will inform and benefit health practitioners and policy makers as well as people with brain injuries and their family members and friends. The chapters explore the current best evidence and contemporary views on healing that draw on optimism, aspirational living, and meaningful partnerships. The authors focus on the emergent area of the salutogenic experience of injury—how brain injury changes and shapes lives in positive ways—and on the variables within individuals and their environments that provide a supportive influence in long-term healing.

Background This study examined the relationship between parents’ perceived social support and their children’s psychological adjustment. Methods This cross-sectional survey study was conducted in 52 kindergartens and 78 preschools in Nagoya, Aichi, a major metropolitan area in Japan. Parents of eighth-grade children aged 13–14 years ( N  = 1,195) completed a questionnaire. A total of 602 valid responses were received. To accurately assess the relationship between parents’ perceived social support and behavioral characteristics, respondents diagnosed with a developmental disability or who failed to answer the required questionnaire items were excluded from the analysis. Consequently, 536 (89.0%) of the 602 participants met the eligibility criteria. Results The results indicated that the stronger the social support for parents, the lower the scores for externalizing and internalizing problems, and the higher the scores for prosociality. Conversely, insufficient social support may pose a risk to parental mental health and lead to suboptimal parenting practices. Issues in parental mental health adversely affect parenting, leading to fewer positive interactions with young children, increased rates of negative interactions and hostility, diminished communication, and delayed responses to children’s behaviors. Conclusions These results underscore the significant influence of parents’ perceptions of social support on their parenting beliefs and behaviors, which may, in turn, affect the development of their children’s mental health. Therefore, parents’ perceptions of social support are likely positively associated with children’s mental health.

Objective To examine acceptance of disability, coping style, perceived social support, and quality of life and to explore the relationships between acceptance of disability, coping style, perceived social support, and quality of life among Chinese patients with chronic lymphedema. Methods Chronic lymphedema patients were recruited from five tertiary hospitals between May and July 2020 in China. Recruited patients were assessed for quality of life (QOL), acceptance of disability (AOD), coping styles, perceived social support (PSS), and sociodemographic and disease-related factors. Multivariate linear regression models were conducted to examine the multivariate effect of AOD, coping style, PSS, and sociodemographic and disease-related factors on QOL. Results A total of 163 chronic lymphedema patients were recruited. The mean score of QOL was 2.23 (SD = 0.68). AOD, number of symptoms, acceptance-resignation, avoidance, degree of pain, PSS, and educational level were found to be significant predictors of QOL. Conclusion Chinese patients with chronic lymphedema had moderate levels of QOL. The QOL and specific domains of patients were affected by different factors. Special attention and targeted interventions should be given to improve patients’ QOL.

Background: Perceived social support (PSS) is one of the most important risk factors for the onset and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, however the relationship between PSS and Complex PTSD (CPTSD) is unknown. The evidence-base for CPTSD treatment is currently lacking, though increasingly important given the recent publication of the ICD-11, which now allows for a formal diagnosis of CPTSD. Objective: This research aims to develop understanding of the relationship between PSS and CPTSD with a view to informing the development of new and existing treatments. Method: A cross-sectional study was undertaken with 246 individuals recruited to the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH) cohort. Measures of PSS and PTSD/CPTSD were undertaken with this clinical sample and linear and logistic regression were conducted to assess for associations between PSS and the PTSD symptom clusters of DSM-5 and ICD-11, and to explore the predictive utility of any PSS association on the likelihood of a CPTSD presentation. Results: It was found that individuals with a presentation of CPTSD tend to exhibit lower levels of PSS, compared with individuals not presenting with CPTSD, and lower PSS had a statistically significant unique association with the likelihood of presenting with CPTSD. Conclusions: Intervention aiming to improve PSS could be particularly helpful for some individuals with CPTSD, especially those with disturbances in relationships, and there is opportunity to develop skills training within a phase-based approach to treatment that targets factors related to PSS. * Individuals with a presentation of Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) tend to exhibit particularly low levels of perceived social support (PSS), compared with individuals not presenting with CPTSD.* Lower PSS was found to have a statistically significant unique association with the likelihood of presenting with CPTSD.* Intervention aiming to improve PSS could be particularly helpful for some individuals with CPTSD, especially those with disturbances in relationships.

Social support has been found to be crucial for children in terms of their health and daily life. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) is a self-reported scale to measure the sources of perceived social support: friends, family and significant others, which has not been previously psychometrically evaluated on children as young as 8 years old. The current study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the MSPSS in Chinese children. In total 1,482 students in Shanghai, China were recruited in the study (age range 8–14, M  = 10.79, SD  = 1.11). Results showed that the Cronbach’s α coefficients for subscales and the total scale were all above 0.80 indicating good reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure of the Chinese version of MSPSS. Notable ceiling effects were observed for single items and subscales, while observed floor effects were negligible. The stronger correlation found between MSPSS and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (as measure of positive aspects of child life) than between MSPSS and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (as measure of negative aspects of life) yielded support for satisfying external validity. The findings lend support to the reliability and validity of the scale for assessing perceived social support on children. Highlights Previous studies have psychometrically examined the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support in children as young as 8 years of age. A total of 1,482 Chinese children (8-14 years) with parents were recruited from a school context. A 3-factor model consisting friends, family and significant others, fit the data best. High internal consistency and satisfying external validity of the measure was found. Floor effects were negligible for all items while substantial ceiling effects were observed.

Background This study was designed to investigate the mediation effects of social empowerment (SE) in the relationship between perceived social support (PSS) and life satisfaction (LS) in women self-help group members. Also, this research attempted to understand the moderating effect of decision making (DM) and external communication (EC) on the relationship between the constructs. Methods To achieve the above objective, the primary data were collected from the self-help group women members by using an existing scale. In this survey, 333 participants who are members of self-help group completed the questionnaire and considered for the study. The study is non-experimental and survey-based, with no interventions or manipulations involved. In line with ethical guidelines, we obtained informed consent directly from each respondent before their participation. Conclusion The path coefficient values, t-statistics and P-Values confirmed the positive relationship between PSS->LS; PSS->SE & SE->LS in women self-group members. PLS structural equation modelling estimated by the bootstrap method revealed that SE partially mediates the relationship between PSS & LS. With regard to the interaction effect, the slope analysis and f 2 effect size confirmed the moderating effect of EC in the relationship between PSS -> LS & SE -> LS.