Social Support and Success at Stopping Smoking

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia May ◽  
Robert West ◽  
Peter Hajek ◽  
Andy McEwen ◽  
Hayden McRobbie

AbstractThis article characterises the social support received by a large sample of smokers attempting to stop and the relationship between this and the outcome of their attempt. A survey was conducted of 928 smokers attending a group-based program. Smoking among colleagues and a perception of having someone to turn to predicted outcome at the end of treatment, 4 weeks from the quit date (Odds ratio [OR] = 0.81, p = .008 and OR = 1.31, p = .003 respectively) Among those who abstained for the first week, smoking among colleagues and the frequency with which they had been offered cigarettes predicted outcome at the end of treatment (OR = 0.81, p = .04 and OR = 0.73, p = .01 respectively). There were no significant social support correlates of cessation for 26 weeks. Social support has a role to play in the short-term, but in the context of a group-based treatment program appears not to be related to long-term success.

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
A M G van Tintelen ◽  
S H Bolt ◽  
D E M C Jansen

Abstract Background This study aims to address the lack of information about teenage mothers in different stages of their lives by exploring how they are doing in the long term and the social support they receive. Methods From December 2018 to February 2019 teenage mothers in the Netherlands were recruited by Fiom (an expert centre for unintended pregnancy), via social media and a website for teenage mothers (n = 248). Using an online survey, data were obtained to assess various outcomes, such as well-being, education, work, income, housing and social support. Respondents were divided into three groups: 0-3 years after teenage childbearing (short-term), 4-12 years (medium-term), >12 years (long-term). Results were analysed using univariate and bivariate descriptions in SPSS. Results Almost 80% of the respondents reported that they were doing well and were satisfied with their life. 63.3% had a job, and 17.0% was enrolled in education. Short-term mothers worked fewer hours per week compared to long-term mothers (p < 0.001). 85.1% of the respondents reported that they received benefits, short-term mothers receiving more benefits than long-term mothers (p < 0.001). The majority (78.2%) was satisfied with their living conditions; short-term mothers were less satisfied than long-term mothers (p = 0.031). 36.3% of the respondents smoked cigarettes. Most support was given by family (83.1%), mainly from female relatives. About 24% of the respondents received formal support. Conclusions This study shows that teenage mothers, on average, were doing well and were satisfied with their life, in both the short and long term. Regarding income and housing, short-term mothers were in a less favourable position. These results suggest that as the years pass, teenage mothers overcome difficulties. Since the association between well-being and social support on the long term is unknown, we advise investigating the effect of social support on the outcomes of teenage childbearing. Key messages Both in the short-term and the long-term, most teenage mothers were doing well and satisfied with life. Regarding housing and income, short-term mothers function less well compared to long-term mothers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-333
Author(s):  
Penny Pears Willmering

Accreditation of undergraduate rehabilitation education (URE) programs is a tool to further the cause of social justice. In addition to supporting this statement, this article explores the relationship between URE, accreditation curriculum, and the training of graduates to facilitate justice for all members of society. The social justice struggle for accreditation equity for URE is reviewed, as well as continued threats to accreditation, and the need for consistent professional identity and nomenclature. The new accreditation curriculum standards and their attention to social justice concepts is discussed. Accreditation advantages and disadvantages as they relate to justice are offered. Advantages include the strength of consistency of curriculum, while disadvantages involve leaning toward homogenization of the course of study, and a threat of return to a paternalistic view of consumers. In addition, financial challenges presented by the pandemic to URE programs is discussed, along with a strategy to address those issues. An analysis of advantages and disadvantages to accreditation as it relates to social justice and consumers reveals that benefits far outweigh potential issues. Further, short-term and long-term strategies to address threats to accreditation, challenges to consistent names for the profession, its graduates and professional scope, and a stratagem to address nomenclature is offered. Finally, strategies to strengthen the new curriculum to reflect current day understanding of social justice are presented. The country has awakened to social justice issues, and is time that intentional curriculum, driven by accreditation, trains graduates to become social justice advocates and allies.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Taeha Paik ◽  
Timothy G. Pollock ◽  
Steven Boivie ◽  
Donald Lange ◽  
Peggy M. Lee

We investigate how the relationship between status and performance decouples over time by addressing two questions: (1) how performance affects the likelihood that an actor achieves high status and (2) how achieving high status affects the actor’s subsequent performance. In doing so, we focus on the role repeated certification contests play, where evaluators assess actors’ performance along particular dimensions and confer high status on the contest winners. Using the context of sell-side (brokerage) equity analysts and the “All-Star” list from Institutional Investor magazine, we first investigate whether analysts who make the All-Star list are more likely to produce accurate and/or independent forecasts. Then, we investigate analyst performance after recent and multiple wins. Our results demonstrate the decoupling of status and performance over time and the roles played by both the high-status actor and the social evaluators conferring their status. Whereas analyst performance increases the likelihood of being designated an All-Star, recent and multiple All-Star designations differentially affect both how subsequent performance is assessed, and how the All-Star analysts subsequently perform. In the short term, achieving high status can increase performance and solidify an analyst’s status position; however, in the long term, it can lead to lower performance and eventually result in status loss, which further erodes performance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim W ◽  
Okunade A Sheu

Corruption is as aged as the existence of man and it exists in all sphere of human life. The  persistency  of  corruption  erodes  the  social  economic  value  of  a  nation. The study investigates the relationship between corruption and economic growth in Nigeria, in the period 1980-2013, using the VAR analysis. The study finds the existence of long-term relationship between corruption and unemployment growth on the economic growth of Nigeria. Also, the study found no short-term relationship in corruption and unemployment on economic growth. Hence, the result in the analysis shows that corruption positively has a strong influence on the output of Nigeria. So the rise in growth rate experienced in Nigeria is influenced by high corruption rate in the country, which is making the few rich to be richer, eradicating the middle class and making the poor to be poorer. Therefore, there is a need to develop political will to prosecute anyone found guilty of corruption irrespective of their position, tribe, religion or party affiliation. Such a punishment would also serve as a deterrent to others and help improve real economic growth and development.


2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meara H. Faw

The social, economic, and physical costs associated with providing long-term care for a child with disabilities can be overwhelming, and it is not uncommon for caregivers to experience burnout, emotional distress, and significant health ailments as a result of their commitment to their child. Social support can be a key resource to combat these negative effects, as ample research has shown that social support can act as a buffer to the negative effects of stress. The current study explored whether short-term supportive interactions between parents of children with disabilities and members of their supportive network ( n = 40 dyads) influenced the physiological stress responses (as measured by salivary cortisol) of both interactants. Results indicated that receiving support in a short interaction resulted in parents experiencing decreases to their physiological stress, though the quality of the support played a key role in determining how beneficial the interaction was in this context. These results suggest the importance of considering support quality when examining the influence of social support on physical outcomes for support recipients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
Angeline Jeyakumar ◽  
Swapnil Godbharle ◽  
Bibek Raj Giri

Background: Measuring undernutrition using composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) and identifying its determinants in tribal regions is essential to recognize the true burden of undernutrition in these settings. Objective: To determine anthropometric failure and its determinants among tribal children younger than 5 years in Palghar, Maharashtra, India. Methods: A cross-sectional survey employing CIAF was performed in children <5 years to estimate undernutrition in the tribal district of Palghar in Maharashtra, India. Anthropometric measurements, maternal and child characteristics were recorded from 577 mother–child pairs in 9 villages. Results: As per Z score, prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight were 48%, 13%, and 43%, respectively. According to CIAF, 66% of children had at least one manifestation of undernutrition and 40% had more than one manifestation of undernutrition. Odds of anthropometric failure were 1.5 times higher among children of mothers who were illiterate (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =1.57, 95% CI: 1.0-2.3), children who had birth weight >2.5 kg had lesser odds (AOR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.4-0.9) of anthropometric failure, and children who had initiated early breastfeeding had 1.5 times higher odds of anthropometric failure (crude odds ratio: 1.5, 95% CI: 1.0-2.1). However, when adjusted for other independent variables, the results were not significant. Conclusion: The alarming proportion of anthropometric failure among tribal children calls for urgent short-term interventions to correct undernutrition and long-term interventions to improve maternal literacy and awareness to prevent and manage child undernutrition.


Genome ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 272-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donal A. Hickey ◽  
Bernhard F. Benkel ◽  
Charalambos Magoulas

Multicellular eukaryotes have evolved complex homeostatic mechanisms that buffer the majority of their cells from direct interaction with the external environment. Thus, in these organisms long-term adaptations are generally achieved by modulating the developmental profile and tissue specificity of gene expression. Nevertheless, a subset of eukaryotic genes are still involved in direct responses to environmental fluctuations. It is the adaptative responses in the expression of these genes that buffers many other genes from direct environmental effects. Both microevolutionary and macroevolutionary patterns of change in the structure and regulation of such genes are illustrated by the sequences encoding α-amylases. The molecular biology and evolution of α-amylases in Drosophila and other higher eukaryotes are presented. The amylase system illustrates the effects of both long-term and short-term natural selection, acting on both the structural and regulatory components of a gene–enzyme system. This system offers an opportunity for linking evolutionary genetics to molecular biology, and it allows us to explore the relationship between short-term microevolutionary changes and long-term adaptations.Key words: gene regulation, molecular evolution, eukaryotes, Drosophila, amylase.


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