University of St. Thomas, Minnesota St. Catherine University Social Work Master’s Clinical Research Papers School of Social Work 2015 Social Support: Coping and Stress Related Growth among Adults with Mental Illness Tara J. Reopelle University of St.
Thomas, Minnesota Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.edu/ssw_mstrp Part of the Clinical and Medical Social Work Commons, and the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Reopelle, Tara J., "Social Support: Coping and Stress Related Growth among Adults with Mental Illness" (2015). Social Work Master’s Clinical Research Papers.edu/ssw_mstrp/506 This Clinical research paper is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Social Work at UST Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Social Work Master’s Clinical Research Papers by an authorized administrator of UST Research Online. For more information, please contact libroadmin@stthomas.
Running head: COPING AND STRESS RELATED GROWTH Social Support: Coping and Stress Related Growth among Adults with Mental Illness by Tara J. MSW Clinical Research Paper Presented to the Faculty of the School of Social Work St. Catherine University and the University of St. Paul, Minnesota in Partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Social Work Committee Members Felicia Sy, Ph., LICSW (Chair) Stephanie Faber, MSW, LICSW Susanna Bertelsen, MS, RN, PHN The Clinical Research Project is a graduation requirement for MSW students at St.
Catherine University/University of St. Thomas School of Social Work in St. Paul, Minnesota and is conducted within a nine-month time frame to demonstrate facility with basic social research methods. Students must independently conceptualize a research problem, formulate a research design that is approved by a research committee and the university Institutional Review Board, implement the project, and publicly present the findings of the study.
This project is neither a Master’s thesis nor a dissertation. SOCIAL SUPPORT: COPING AND STRESS RELATED GROWTH 2 Abstract The purpose of this research study was to understand the relationship with social support and coping along with stress related growth in adults with mental illness. The research study sample involved six adults with a serious and persistent mental illness that were part of an assisted living and intentional community program. The methodology used in this research study was qualitative and semi-structured interviews.
Findings included demographic information as to the age, education, and religious and/or spiritual status of the study participants. Data content analysis of the semi-structured interviews revealed themes of social support, learning from others, coping with feelings and stress, managing conflict and assertiveness, and people reaction’s to mental illness. Research participants did perceive receiving social support and being able to cope as helpful. Stress related growth was concluded based on the responses from research participants in semi- structured interviews and the use of the general meaning making model.
SOCIAL SUPPORT: COPING AND STRESS RELATED GROWTH 3 Acknowledgments I would like to thank my research chair, Felicia Sy, Ph., LICSW, for her tremendous care and support as I worked on completing this research study. I would also like to thank my committee members Stephanie Faber, MSW, LICSW and Susanna Bertelsen, MS, RN, PHN for their assistance in my research study and words of encouragement. I also want to thank my colleagues in my 682 research study class for all their support and concern they provided to me. Last but not least, I want to thank my parents for all the love and support they have given me over the last nine months which has shown me that with love there are no limitations.
SOCIAL SUPPORT: COPING AND STRESS RELATED GROWTH 4 Table of Contents Introduction and Purpose Statement 6 Literature Review and Research Question 9 Conceptual Framework 16 Methodology Research Design 19 Sample 19 Protection of Human Subjects 19 Recruitment Process 20 Confidentiality/Anonymity 20 Protocol for Informed Consent 21 Data Collection 22 Data Analysis Plan 22 Findings 24 References 19 Discussion 34 Implications 39 Strengths and Limitations 40 References 42 Appendices 45 A. General Meaning Making Model SOCIAL SUPPORT: COPING AND STRESS RELATED GROWTH 5 B. Agency Letter of Acceptance C. Research Participants’ Consent E.
Thematic Relationships SOCIAL SUPPORT: COPING AND STRESS RELATED GROWTH 6 Social Support: Coping and Stress Related Growth Among Adults with Mental Illness According to the World Health Organization in 2001, approximately 25% of the world’s residents were impacted with a mental illness at one time in their lives (as cited in Walton-Moss, Gerson, & Rose, 2005). Furthermore, the National Institute of Mental Health reported in 2001 that among all diseases, mental illness was the most prevalent with the sole exception of heart disease (as cited in Walton-Moss, et al. The significance of the number of individuals impacted by mental illness illustrates the importance of properly addressing this health issue. The most readily and efficacious methods used in addressing mental illness focuses on treating symptoms and helping individuals with mental illness improve daily functioning.
However, the aspect of social support may be a component that has been overlooked in the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness. The concept of social support is defined as the interactions and resources given by individuals to help other individuals in coping with problems (Wills & Filer-Fegan, 2005). Social support in of itself is a coping method, however, in this research study the interactions that are experienced in helping to cope with mental illness will be the focus. The word “individuals” used to define social support in this research is broad and therefore can include spouses, significant others, GLBT community, families, friends, neighbors, professionals, and others.
Social support received by individuals with mental illness may not only be helpful with coping with mental illness, but perhaps have far more reaching implications. One implication may be that social support is associated with stress related growth among adults with mental illness (Chiba, Kawakami, & SOCIAL SUPPORT: COPING AND STRESS RELATED GROWTH 7 Miyamoto, 2011). Stress related growth is defined as actual changes that people have undergone in connection to an event that was traumatic or stressful (Park, 2009). Stress related growth has also been identified as benefit finding, adversarial growth, and growth (Park, 2009).
However, for the purpose of uniformity and this research study, the term stress related growth will be used. The idea that social support may be an important component for individuals coping with mental illness highlights the need to utilize more resources to understand how social support impacts individuals in coping with their mental illness. Further, an understanding between coping and stress related growth would be beneficial to gain more of an understanding of how social support may influence individuals to experience stress related growth. However, there has only been a small amount of research done to understand this relationship (Chiba, et al.
The purpose of this research study is to seek best practice strategies when integrating social support with an emphasis on social interactions in the care of adults with mental illness. In other words, this research seeks to find what happens when social support occurs and individuals with mental illness learn coping methods from those social interactions and how this ability to cope may influence the experience of stress related growth. Further, according to the research literature, other factors besides learning to cope from social interactions may implicate individuals’ ability to experience stress related growth. These factors are education level, age, religiosity and/or spirituality and will be taken in to consideration as to how they factor in with the ability to experience stress related growth.
In summary, this research study seeks to: 1) learn how social support influences coping among adults with mental illness and 2) how this ability to cope as a result of SOCIAL SUPPORT: COPING AND STRESS RELATED GROWTH 8 social support influences the experience of stress related growth among adults with mental illness. Social work should be concerned about the social support adults with mental illness receive because not only does it help them to cope with their illness but in coping with other stressors in their lives as well. Also, the premise that social support can implicate stress related growth would be useful to individuals with mental illness to realize personal strengths, set goals, and assess their quality of life which would be helpful in experiencing lives that are meaningful to this population. A review of the literature focused on studies involving social support and illness, coping with illness, stress related growth and illness, and other predictors of stress related growth.
Literature review on social support and illness revealed families with a mentally ill family member sought support and that emotional closeness was indicative of a family’s ability to cope. Further, individuals with mental illness perceive a lack of social support in health care settings except during hospitalizations (Crowe & Lyness, 2014; Danoff-Burg & Revenson, 2005; Doornbos, 1996; Kilbourne, McCarthy, Post, Welsh & Blow, 2007; Huang, Sousa, Tsai, & Hwang, 2007). Literature review on coping with illness involved families and how their coping such as talking about illness and thinking about the illness was helpful. Also, the ability to find benefits surrounding an illness and experiencing change was discussed (Crowe & Lyness, 2014; Doornbos, 1996; Katz, Flasher, Cacciapaglia, & Nelson, 2001; Kinsinger, Penedo, Antoni, Dahn, Lechnger, & Schneiderman, 2006; Roberts, Lepore, & Helgeson, 2006; Schulz and Mohamed, 2004; Thornton and Perez; 2006).
Literature review on stress related growth and illness involved how thinking, appraisal, problem solving, emotional support, and looking for meaning are related to the experience of stress related growth (Thornton & Perez, 2006; SOCIAL SUPPORT: COPING AND STRESS RELATED GROWTH 9 Widows, Jacobsen, Booth-Jones, & Fields, 2005). The literature on other predictors of stress related growth included age, education, and religiosity and/or spirituality may impact an individual’s ability to experience stress related growth (Calhoun, Caun, Tedeschi, & McMillan, 2000; Cordova, Cunningham, Carlson, & Andrykowski, 2001; Costa & Pakenham, 2012; Fortune, Richards, Griffiths, & Main, 2005; Katz, Flasher, Cacciapaglia, & Nelson, 2001; Kinsinger, Penedo, Antoni, Daun, Lecher, & Schneiderman, 2006; Linley & Joseph, 2004; Thornton & Perez, 2006; Widows, et al, 2005). Social Support and Illness The literature on social support and mental illness involved families and how they managed having a family member with a mental illness. Doornbos (1996) did a descriptive study comparing families with a mentally ill member to families without a mentally ill member.
The themes identified in this study were family coping, family health, and family stressors (Doornbos, 1996). Doornbos (1996) found that families with a mentally ill member used the behavioral approach of looking for social support more so than families without a mentally ill family member. Doornbos’s findings suggest that families with a mentally ill member that seek social support may lack the necessary skills to manage caring for a family member with mental illness. Families could then benefit from learning approaches to provide social support to family members with mental illness.
A national mental health organization that has undertaken the educating of families for family members with mental illness is the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI). The educating of families is designed to give the support and information they SOCIAL SUPPORT: COPING AND STRESS RELATED GROWTH 10 need. Crowe and Lyness (2014) did a study surveying members from the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) regarding family relationships with a seriously mentally ill family member. Some variables of interest that were evaluated were coping, family functioning, emotional closeness, and distress in the family (Crowe & Lyness, 2014).
The researchers found that a majority of the study participants indicated they were either very emotionally close at 50.6% or emotionally close at 23% to the family member with a mental illness (Crowe & Lyness, 2014). In addition, they found that emotional closeness was affirmatively correlated with family coping (Crowe & Lyness, 2014). Crowe and Lyness’s research suggests that the more emotionally close families are towards a family member with mental illness, the more they are able to cope. Families that learn coping skills to relate to a mentally ill family member could then become more emotionally close.