Social Support and Psychiatric Disorder: Research Findings and Guidelines for Clinical Practice / Edition 1

by T. S. Brugha

Overview

This book collates and analyzes the information currently available on social support as it impacts on mental health. The international team of contributors covers a whole range of perspectives on mental illness, from biological mechanisms to psychological and social theory. The book begins with an overview of the latest published evidence and a description of the nature and origins of social support, which is followed by evidence from observational studies and specific interventions and trials. The text concludes with a summary that will act as a valuable resource to practitioners in their evaluation of social and psychological treatments and should also serve to stimulate further research and intervention trials. Practitioners and researchers in psychiatry, psychology and social work are certain to welcome this timely guide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521442381
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/24/1995
Series:	Studies in Social and Community Psychiatry
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	6.18(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; List of contributors; 1. Social support and psychiatric disorder: overview of evidence Traolach S. Brugha; Part 1. Concepts and Origins of Social Support: 2. Understanding social support within the context of theory and research on the relationship of life stress and mental health Camille Lloyd; 3. A developmental perspective on social support networks Lorna Champion; 4. Cognitive aspects of social support processes Chris R. Brewin; 5. Attachment, co-operation and rank: the evolution of the need for status and social support Paul Gilbert; Part II. Lessons from Selected Observational Studies: 6. Social support as a high-risk condition for depression in women Hans O. F. Veiel; 7. The importance of context: who needs and who does not need social support among college students? Patrick McC. Miller; 8. Teenage peer networks in the community as sources of social problems: a sociological perspective Deirdre Kirke; Part III. Lessons from Intervention Studies: 9. Social network and mental health: an intervention study Odd Steffen Dalgard, Trine Anstorp, Kirsten Benum and Tom Sørensen; 10. A test of the social support hypothesis Bryanne Barnett and Gordon Parker; 11. Case management and network enhancement of the long-term mentally ill Graham Thornicroft, William R. Breakey and Annelle B. Primm; 12. Expressed emotion: measurement, intervention and training issues Liz Kuipers; Part IV. Intervention Principles and Recommendation: 13. Social support processes and cognitive therapy Glenys Parry; 14. Social support and psychiatric disorder: recommendations for clinical practice and research Traolach S. Brugha; Index.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Patricia M. Meaden, PhD (Rush University Medical Center)
Description: This well-organized volume outlines the contributions of complex social interactions to health maintenance. Social support is defined from both psychological and sociological perspectives. Observational studies reflecting these perspectives are presented. The section on intervention studies describes how social support information is applied in both preventive and therapeutic situations.
Purpose: The authors encourage the expansion of formal clinical evaluations to include a comprehensive assessment of social interactions as they affect physical and psychological well-being. An additional aim is to encourage greater interdisciplinary collaboration, which the authors view as potentially beneficial to all practitioners in managed care environments.
Audience: The authors primarily intended this book for medical and mental health practitioners across disciplines. However, the excellent organization and well-presented research would make this volume extremely useful as a textbook for teaching social psychiatry principles.
Features: The most notable features of this book are its clear organization and extensive, up-to-date, relevant references.
Assessment: This book succeeds in describing the interactional complexity of social support systems, and presenting the challenge of empirically evaluating the contributions of social networks to human well-being. The presentation and evaluation of preventive and therapeutic interventions challenge the clinician to find new ways to incorporate social systems theory into treatment strategies.

Doody's Review Service

"This book succeeds in describing the interactional complexity of social support systems, and presenting the challenge of empirically evaluating the contributions of social networks to human well-being. The presentation and evaluation of preventative and therapeutic interventions challenge the clinician to find new ways to incorporate social systems theory into treatment strategies." Patricia M. Meaden, Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal

"...a great deal of timely, relevant information in an accessible, intriguing manner and is well worth reading." Mary Ellen McNaughton-Cassill, Ph.D., The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

"This valuable and well-designed book focuses on an issue of central importance for clinicians-the impact of social support on mental disorder....This is a book that makes accessible to clinicians and mental health administrators some of the advances in social psychiatry..." Richard Warner, M.B., D.P.M., Psychiatric Services

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