Main description:

This second volume, in a series looking at the social dimensions of mental illness, collates and critically examines the information currently available on social support as it impacts on mental health. The international team of contributors, each actively involved in both clinical and research work in this field, collectively covers the whole range of perspectives from biological mechanisms through to psychological and social theory. An overview of the latest published evidence and a description of the nature and origins of social support are followed by evidence from observational studies and specific interventions and trials. The text concludes with a summary which will act as a valuable resource for 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.

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 Sorensen; 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.