The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Factors related to social support in neurological and mental disorders

Factors related to social support in neurological and mental disorders
Factors related to social support in neurological and mental disorders
Despite the huge body of research on social support, literature has been primarily focused on its beneficial role for both physical and mental health. It is still unclear why people with mental and neurological disorders experience low levels of social support. The main objective of this study was to explore what are the strongest factors related to social support and how do they interact with each other in neuropsychiatric disorders. The study used cross-sectional data from 722 persons suffering from dementia, depression, epilepsy, migraine, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, stroke, and substance use disorders. Multiple linear regressions showed that disability was the strongest factor for social support. Extraversion and agreeableness were significant personality variables, but when the interaction terms between personality traits and disability were included, disability remained the only significant variable. Moreover, level of disability mediated the relationship between personality (extraversion and agreeableness) and level of social support. Moderation analysis revealed that people that had mental disorders experienced lower levels of support when being highly disabled compared to people with neurological disorders. Unlike previous literature, focused on increasing social support as the origin of improving disability, this study suggested that interventions improving day-to-day functioning or maladaptive personality styles might also have an effect on the way people perceive social support. Future longitudinal research, however, is warranted to explore causality.
1932-6203
1-13
Kamenov, K.
35c69f54-8fc7-4287-a653-03c6527fb1ab
Cabello, M.
cf2fe279-c6c7-431a-9ddf-6ff548d07458
Caballero, F.F.
d6d98605-cecc-47c9-a1c3-761aef325f33
Cieza, A.
a0df25c5-ee2c-4580-82b3-d0a75591580e
Sabariego, C.
649cdf85-62d5-4eb9-b181-5f6333f02d95
Raggi, A.
e4d86292-4c3b-4fec-99a4-d2efb033a847
Anczewska, M.
4be7e266-6e8f-44a8-ae09-a545b0fc11f3
Pitkänen, T.
cbf3f7ee-5f97-4594-9b05-7378fc29ee4d
Ayuso-Mateos, J.L.
cee29a4e-4898-4f34-81d5-fcd018738d8d
Kamenov, K.
35c69f54-8fc7-4287-a653-03c6527fb1ab
Cabello, M.
cf2fe279-c6c7-431a-9ddf-6ff548d07458
Caballero, F.F.
d6d98605-cecc-47c9-a1c3-761aef325f33
Cieza, A.
a0df25c5-ee2c-4580-82b3-d0a75591580e
Sabariego, C.
649cdf85-62d5-4eb9-b181-5f6333f02d95
Raggi, A.
e4d86292-4c3b-4fec-99a4-d2efb033a847
Anczewska, M.
4be7e266-6e8f-44a8-ae09-a545b0fc11f3
Pitkänen, T.
cbf3f7ee-5f97-4594-9b05-7378fc29ee4d
Ayuso-Mateos, J.L.
cee29a4e-4898-4f34-81d5-fcd018738d8d

Kamenov, K., Cabello, M., Caballero, F.F., Cieza, A., Sabariego, C., Raggi, A., Anczewska, M., Pitkänen, T. and Ayuso-Mateos, J.L. (2016) Factors related to social support in neurological and mental disorders. PLoS ONE, 11 (2), 1-13. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149356). (PMID:26900847)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Despite the huge body of research on social support, literature has been primarily focused on its beneficial role for both physical and mental health. It is still unclear why people with mental and neurological disorders experience low levels of social support. The main objective of this study was to explore what are the strongest factors related to social support and how do they interact with each other in neuropsychiatric disorders. The study used cross-sectional data from 722 persons suffering from dementia, depression, epilepsy, migraine, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, stroke, and substance use disorders. Multiple linear regressions showed that disability was the strongest factor for social support. Extraversion and agreeableness were significant personality variables, but when the interaction terms between personality traits and disability were included, disability remained the only significant variable. Moreover, level of disability mediated the relationship between personality (extraversion and agreeableness) and level of social support. Moderation analysis revealed that people that had mental disorders experienced lower levels of support when being highly disabled compared to people with neurological disorders. Unlike previous literature, focused on increasing social support as the origin of improving disability, this study suggested that interventions improving day-to-day functioning or maladaptive personality styles might also have an effect on the way people perceive social support. Future longitudinal research, however, is warranted to explore causality.

Text
Kamenov_2016_Factors related to Soc. Supp. in Neurological and Mental Disorders.pdf - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (449kB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 29 January 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 22 February 2016
Published date: 22 February 2016
Organisations: Psychology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 388481
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/388481
ISSN: 1932-6203
PURE UUID: 18009b3a-6482-4854-8134-c45769fac7b8

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 26 Feb 2016 09:25
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 22:58

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: K. Kamenov
Author: M. Cabello
Author: F.F. Caballero
Author: A. Cieza
Author: C. Sabariego
Author: A. Raggi
Author: M. Anczewska
Author: T. Pitkänen
Author: J.L. Ayuso-Mateos

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×