TY - JOUR
T1 - The meaning of social support for persons with serious mental illness
AU - Chronister, Julie
AU - Chou, Chih Chin
AU - Kwan, Kwong Liem Karl
AU - Lawton, Melissa
AU - Silver, Kurt
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 American Psychological Association.
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/8/1
Y1 - 2015/8/1
N2 - Objective: This study sought to better understand the population-specific types of social support relevant to adults living with serious mental illness (SMI). Our study was exploratory and used a qualitative approach that centered on uncovering the types of social support meaningful and relevant to persons with SMI. Method: The sample comprised of 52 adults receiving county mental health services in the San Francisco Bay Area. Data was gathered from 6 focus groups and analyzed using NVivo10 and Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR; Hill et al., 2005; Hill et al., 1997). Results: Six qualitative domains were identified: (a) supportive conditions, (b) day-to-day living, (c) illness management, (d) resources and information, (e) guidance and advice, and (f) community participation support. Discussion: While the 6 support domains share some broad-based conceptual underpinnings with traditional models of emotional and instrumental support, the domains emerging from our study represent supports uniquely tied to the stressors associated with living with SMI, and therefore hold conceptual distinction from traditional types of support. Conclusions/Implications: Findings from this study offer a conceptual framework for understanding social support for persons living with SMI and lay the groundwork for the development of a SMI-specific measure of social support. In addition, our research permits future researchers to investigate the conditions under which social support buffers the impact of SMI stressors, assisting service providers in more effective identification of individual support needs for clinical intervention.
AB - Objective: This study sought to better understand the population-specific types of social support relevant to adults living with serious mental illness (SMI). Our study was exploratory and used a qualitative approach that centered on uncovering the types of social support meaningful and relevant to persons with SMI. Method: The sample comprised of 52 adults receiving county mental health services in the San Francisco Bay Area. Data was gathered from 6 focus groups and analyzed using NVivo10 and Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR; Hill et al., 2005; Hill et al., 1997). Results: Six qualitative domains were identified: (a) supportive conditions, (b) day-to-day living, (c) illness management, (d) resources and information, (e) guidance and advice, and (f) community participation support. Discussion: While the 6 support domains share some broad-based conceptual underpinnings with traditional models of emotional and instrumental support, the domains emerging from our study represent supports uniquely tied to the stressors associated with living with SMI, and therefore hold conceptual distinction from traditional types of support. Conclusions/Implications: Findings from this study offer a conceptual framework for understanding social support for persons living with SMI and lay the groundwork for the development of a SMI-specific measure of social support. In addition, our research permits future researchers to investigate the conditions under which social support buffers the impact of SMI stressors, assisting service providers in more effective identification of individual support needs for clinical intervention.
KW - Serious mental illness
KW - Social support
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U2 - 10.1037/rep0000038
DO - 10.1037/rep0000038
M3 - Article
C2 - 26009778
AN - SCOPUS:84941191395
VL - 60
SP - 232
EP - 245
JO - Rehabilitation Psychology
JF - Rehabilitation Psychology
SN - 0090-5550
IS - 3
ER -