The Effect of Social Support on the Mental Health Literacy of Parents Who Have Children with Special Needs: A Moderated Mediating Effect

Background

It is well known that parents play an important role in the family, particularly the mental health literacy of parents is essential for the growth and development of children. As the parents of children with special needs, they are facing more difficulties and psychological pressure, resulted in more mental health problems.

Purpose

The current study examined the effect of social support on mental health literacy, and its underlying mechanisms regarding the mediating role of coping styles and moderating role of social comparison.

Methods

Using a cross-sectional design, 165 parents of children with special needs (22-67 years old, M=37.72, SD=8.78) participated in the study. The general information questionnaire, Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS), Social Support Rating Scale, Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, and Social Comparison Orientation Scale were used.

Results

We found that objective support positively predicted the mental health literacy, positive coping style played a mediating role between objective support and mental health literacy. In addition, the relationship between objective support and positive coping styles was moderated by social comparisons; for lower levels of opinion social comparison, the effect of objective support on positive coping styles was significantly stronger.

Conclusion

We revealed the underlying mechanisms between social support and mental health literacy. The present study has profound implications for mental health literacy services for parents who have children with special needs.

Dispositional greed and life satisfaction: the role of social comparison for well-being

There is a lack of studies addressing the psychological mechanisms underlying the association between individual differences in greed and well-being. This study tested the relationship between dispositional greed, and satisfaction with life, as well as the moderating effect of social comparison orientation on this association (N = 373). As expected for hypothesis 1, we found that greed correlated negatively with satisfaction with life, and positively with social comparison orientation, even after controlling for individuals' mental health index (anxiety and depression), supporting the hypothesis 2. Further, the moderating effect of social comparison strengthened the relationship between high levels of dispositional greed and dissatisfaction with life, failing to support hypothesis 3. As such, individuals high on dispositional greed were less satisfied with life if they also showed lower (vs. medium level) levels of social comparison orientation. These findings add to the psychological literature on greed by showing that social comparison is not only positively related to it but can also be a vital mechanism for boosting psychological well-being.

Examining social anxiety and dual aspects of social comparison orientation: the moderating role of self-evaluation of social skills

Introduction

Social comparison orientation comprises ability comparison, which entails superior and inferior ratings; and opinion comparison, which does not include such ratings. Previous research on negative emotions and the social rank theory of social anxiety indicates that social anxiety is positively associated with ability comparison. This is particularly true of individuals with a stronger sense of inferiority (e.g., lower self-evaluation of their social skills). Nevertheless, the relationship between the two aspects of social comparison orientation and social anxiety remains unclear.

Methods

Two hundred thirty-eight individuals (Mage = 40.53 ± 9.78 years, 50.4% men) participated in an online cross-sectional survey questionnaire.

Results

Social anxiety was positively correlated with ability comparison but not opinion comparison. The relationship between social anxiety in situations observed by others and ability comparison was stronger for individuals with lower (vs. higher) self-rated social skills.

Discussion

This study showed that the two types of social comparison are differentially related to social anxiety. The findings support the social rank theory of social anxiety, which states that social comparisons involving superior and inferior ratings lead to social anxiety owing to the perception of one's inferiority. Making such social comparisons can result in heightened social anxiety, particularly for individuals with low self-evaluations of social skills. The results indicate the importance of these social comparisons in the emergence and persistence of social anxiety. Furthermore, the potential of interventions based on mindfulness, compassion, social media, and video feedback in mitigating the negative effects of such social comparisons is discussed.

The Impact of Social Comparisons More Related to Ability vs. More Related to Opinion on Well-Being: An Instagram Study

Social networks are gaining widespread popularity, with Instagram currently being the most intensively used network. On these platforms, users are continuously exposed to self-relevant information that fosters social comparisons. A distinction is made between ability-based and opinion-based comparison dimensions. To experimentally investigate the influence of these comparison dimensions on users' subjective well-being, an online exposure experiment (N = 409) was conducted. In a preliminary study (N = 107), valid exposure stimulus material was selected in advance. The results of the main study indicated that the exposure to ability-related social comparisons in the context of social media elicited lower well-being than exposure to opinion-related social comparisons. The theoretical and practical implications of this study consist of including the findings in clinical settings, e.g., affective disorder therapy, and the identification and reduction of ability-related content on social networking sites (SNSs). Future work should include assimilation and contrast effects which might interact with social comparison orientation and well-being.

Feelings of Personal Relative Deprivation and Subjective Well-Being in Japan

Personal relative deprivation (PRD) refers to emotions of resentment and dissatisfaction caused by feeling deprived of a deserved outcome compared to some reference. While evidence suggests that relative deprivation based on objective data such as income affects well-being, subjective PRD has been less explored, especially in the East. This study evaluated the relationship between PRD and subjective well-being based on various aspects in the context of Japan. An online questionnaire survey, including the Japanese version of the Personal Relative Deprivation Scale (J-PRDS5) and various well-being indices, was administered to 500 adult participants, balanced for sex and age. Quantitative data analysis methods were used. PRD significantly correlated with subjective well-being as assessed by various aspects. Through mediation analysis, we found that a strong tendency to compare one's abilities with others may undermine subjective well-being through PRD. The results also indicated that well-developed human environments may be associated with the maintenance of subjective well-being levels, even when PRD is high. Toward developing future interventions to improve well-being and health, efforts must be undertaken in Japan to monitor PRD and further clarify the mechanism of the association between PRD and the factors that showed a strong relationship in this study.

Smartphone addiction and phubbing behavior among university students: A moderated mediation model by fear of missing out, social comparison, and loneliness

Introduction

This article examines mediators and moderators that may explain the link between smartphone addiction and phubbing behavior using a sample of 794 university students.

Methods

A mediation model was tested to test the hypothesis that social comparison orientation and fear of missing out would mediate the link between smartphone addiction and phubbing behavior. Additionally, a moderated mediation model was leveraged to examine loneliness as a moderator within the hypothesized model. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS.

Results and Discussion

The findings show a significant positive relationship between smartphone addiction and phubbing behavior. The findings confirm the hypothesized associations and reveal that smartphone addiction is positively linked to phubbing behavior. The link, on the other hand, is partially and sequentially mediated by the fear of missing out and social comparison orientation. As a result, both mediators might be regarded as proximal variables of phubbing behavior. Moreover, the associations between both smart addiction and phubbing behaviors as well as social comparison orientation and phubbing behaviors are moderated by loneliness. These two effects were stronger for university students with high loneliness than for those with low loneliness. This study addresses a major gap in the clinical psychology literature through the attempt to explore the relationship between smartphone addiction and increased phubbing behavior among university students.

Effects of Personality Traits Concerning Media Use Decisions on Fear of Missing Out and Social Media Use Behavior

We could view the phenomenon of fear of missing out (FoMO) as a dilemma of too many choices about social media. Although there are already various studies on FoMO, there is still a lack of studies on what personality traits concerning media use decisions will contribute to FoMO or how FoMO mediates these personality traits and people's social media use behavior, and, thus, corresponding negative emotions. This study explored the causes of FoMO in a FoMO moderated mediation model using maximizing tendency before the choice was made, social comparison orientation when making choices, and regrets tendency after the choice was made. The results showed that (1) there is a non-significant influence between maximizing tendency and FoMO, (2) regret tendency is a positive influence on FoMO, (3) social comparison orientation is a positive influence on FoMO, (4) FoMO is a positive influence on the compulsive use of social media and surveillance use of social media, (5) FoMO exhibited a full mediating effect on the relationship between regret tendency and social media surveillance use, (6) FoMO exhibited a full mediating effect on the relationship between social comparison orientation and social media compulsive use.

The Psychometric Structure of the Spanish Language Version of The Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure in Spain and Chile

The present study investigated the structure of the Spanish version of the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM-E), an 11-item measure that assesses individual differences in social comparison orientation (SCO), i.e., the extent to which people compare themselves with others. Data came from samples from Spain (n = 1,133) and Chile (n = 2,757). Confirmatory Factor Analyses and Mokken Scale Analyses supported in both samples not the assumed two-factor structure, but a single factor structure, consisting of eight items. The resulting eight-item version of the INCOM-E was reliable in both samples, according the Gutmann's lambda-2 (.82 in Spain and .83 in Chile), and correlated very strongly with the full-length INCOM-E (.93 in Spain and .97 in Chile). In both samples, there were significant sex differences, ps < .001 with small effect sizes, ƞ2 in both samples = .01,but in the Spanish sample women scored higher, and in the Chilean sample men scored higher in SCO. The relationship with age was negative and significant (ps < .001) in both samples, albeit small (r = .22 in Spain and .13 in Chile) Based on the present research, it is advised to use the shortened eight-item version of the INCOM-E in Spanish speaking countries.

Intrinsic Functional and Structural Brain Connectivity in Humans Predicts Individual Social Comparison Orientation

Social comparison orientation (SCO), the tendency to compare oneself with others, is universal, varies widely across individuals, and predicts important life and health outcomes. However, the neural mechanism underlying individual differences in SCO is still not well-understood. In the present study, we identified intrinsic neural markers of SCO in healthy young adults (n = 42) using a multimodal neuroimaging approach that included diffusion tensor imaging and resting-state functional MRI data. We found that higher SCO was associated with weaker structural and functional connectivity (SC, FC) strengths between the ventral striatum and the medial prefrontal cortex, which are core regions of the brain reward network. Additionally, individual SCO was negatively associated with neural fluctuations in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), part of the frontoparietal network, and positively with FC between the IPS and anterior insula/amygdala cluster. This finding was further confirmed by the observation of independently-defined, large-scale, inter-network FC between the frontoparietal network and cingulo-opercular network. Taken together, these results provide novel evidence for intrinsic functional and structural connectivity of the human brain associated with individual differences in SCO.

Social Comparison Orientation and Social Adaptation Among Young Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Academic Self-Concept

This study aimed to investigate the relationship among social comparison orientation, academic self-concept (ASC), and social adaptation. A total of 1658 Chinese adolescents (48.88% male; aged 14–18 years, M_age = 16.01 ± 0.86 years) voluntarily participated in this study and completed questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to test the theory-driven model. The results showed that the relationship between comparison of opinion and social adaptation was mediated by ASC but that ASC did not play a mediating role between comparison of ability and social adaptation. These findings indicated that ASC could be one mechanism explaining the link between adolescents’ social comparison orientation and social adaptation. Furthermore, it is possible to intervene in their social comparison orientation and ASC to improve adolescents’ social adaptation.

The Mediating Roles of Upward Social Comparison and Self-esteem and the Moderating Role of Social Comparison Orientation in the Association between Social Networking Site Usage and Subjective Well-Being

The increased pervasiveness of social media use has raised questions about potential effects on users' subjective well-being, with studies reaching contrasting conclusions. To reconcile these discrepancies and shed new light on this phenomenon, the current study examined: (1) whether upward social comparison and self-esteem mediate the association between social networking site (SNS) usage and users' subjective well-being, and (2) whether the association between SNS usage and upward social comparison is moderated by users' social comparison orientation. Data from 696 participants were collected. Structural equation modeling revealed that upward social comparison and self-esteem mediated the relationship between SNS usage and users' subjective well-being. We found that social comparison orientation moderated the association between passive SNS usage and users' upward social comparison. Specifically, social comparison orientation strengthened the association between passive SNS usage and upward social comparison. The results might suggest a process through which passive SNS usage is related to subjective well-being, and identify a context under which these associations may differ.