Journal ArticleDOI
Who talks? The social psychology of illness support groups.
TLDR
Support seeking was highest for diseases viewed as stigmatizing and was lowest for less embarrassing but equally devastating disorders, such as heart disease, and implications for social comparison theory and its applications in health care are discussed.Abstract:
More Americans try to change their health behaviors through self-help than through all other forms of professionally designed programs. Mutual support groups, involving little or no cost to participants, have a powerful effect on mental and physical health, yet little is known about patterns of support group participation in health care. What kinds of illness experiences prompt patients to seek each other's company? In an effort to observe social comparison processes with real-world relevance, support group participation was measured for 20 disease categories in 4 metropolitan areas (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas) and on 2 on-line forums. Support seeking was highest for diseases viewed as stigmatizing (e.g., AIDS, alcoholism, breast and prostate cancer) and was lowest for less embarrassing but equally devastating disorders, such as heart disease. The authors discuss implications for social comparison theory and its applications in health care.read more
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DissertationDOI
One hill I'm willing to die on: Moral conviction as a catalyst for advocacy on behalf of controversial health- and public-policy-related attitudes
TL;DR: This paper found that moral acceptability was the most theoretically and predictively distinct conceptualizations, and evidence was found for basis being a significant interactor with morality in predicting the replicated outcomes.
Journal ArticleDOI
Explanations of Bereavement, Grief, and Trauma: The Misuse of Both Mental and Foundational Terms
TL;DR: The misuse of both mental and foundational terms in Explanations of Bereavement, Grief, and Trauma: The Misuse of Both Mental and Foundational Terms as discussed by the authors.
Dissertation
The untapped utility of peer-support programs in prisons and implications for theory, policy, and practice
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the utility of peer-helping roles in the context of sexual offenders in the U.K. and found that they can be used to cope with prison deprivation, enhance well-being, contribute to good lives and possible selves, and energise cognitive transformations.
Journal ArticleDOI
Characteristics of an On-Line Mutual-Help Group for Depression
TL;DR: Kurtz et al. as mentioned in this paper used a qualitative methodology to describe the characteristics of an on-line mutual-help group for depression and found that the characteristics were related to: 1) group access (universal accessibility and technical difficulties); 2) lack of physical and auditory presence (anonymity, lurking, and lack of personal information); 3) access to archived information; and 4) members' roles (development of out-of-group relationships and dispersion of leadership).
Dissertation
The role of self-help group in Jordan following treatment for breast cancer
TL;DR: It was found that dominating the meetings, being sarcastic and underestimating the feelings of others play a major negative role in shaping discussions and create communication difficulties in Sanad meetings, showing a lack of hope among non-attendees of Sanad, feelings of helplessness, and negative attitudes towards treatment itself.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
TL;DR: In this article, the authors pointed out that there is a strong functional tie between opinions and abilities in humans and that the ability evaluation of an individual can be expressed as a comparison of the performance of a particular ability with other abilities.
Book
Statistical abstract of the United States
TL;DR: The Red River of the North basin of the Philippines was considered a part of the Louisiana Purchase by the United States Department of Commerce in the 1939 Census Atlas of the United Philippines as discussed by the authors.
Book
The theory and practice of group psychotherapy
TL;DR: Yalom as mentioned in this paper described the course of therapy from both the patient's and the therapist's viewpoint in Encounter Groups: First Facts (1973) and Every Day gets a Little Closer: A Twice-Told Therapy (1974).
Journal ArticleDOI
Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being?
Robert E. Kraut,Michael Patterson,Vicki Lundmark,Sara Kiesler,Tridas Mukophadhyay,William L. Scherlis +5 more
TL;DR: Greater use of the Internet was associated with declines in participants' communication with family members in the household, declines in the size of their social circle, and increases in their depression and loneliness.
Journal ArticleDOI