Introduction: Several studies have reported that having a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) increases parental stress and that parental psychosocial functioning influences child's development and behavior. It is unclear how parents of children with NDD experience family functionality, family health and receive support and if there are differences between experiences of mothers and fathers. Methods: Families with children referred to a neurocognitive unit were invited to the study. A modified version of the FAmily Functionality, HEalth, and Social support (FAFHES) questionnaire was used. Open-ended questions were also included. Results: Parents rated their social support lower than their family functionality and family health. Family functionality correlated positively with family health. No significant differences were found between mothers' and fathers' experiences. A three-months test-retest using the FAFHES showed no significant change in ratings of family functionality, family health, and social support. Conclusions: Family functionality was connected to family health in families with a child with NDD. Mothers and fathers experienced their family health, family functionality, and received social support in similar ways.

This study assesses the key factors affecting the resilience of young single mothers in Arusha region, Tanzania. The average age of childbearing in Tanzania remains low. Many socioeconomic difficulties such as poverty, lack of education and sexual- and reproductive services have an impact why many Tanzanian girls give birth during adolescence. Young single mothers often face many challenges in coping with pregnancy and motherhood due to the discrimination they face. This research is based on 22 semi-structured interviews that were conducted with young single mothers, who had given birth between 15 and 20 years old in Arusha region, Tanzania. The data was collected during one month visit to Meru at the end of 2017. The interviews were conducted in two locations. Half of the interviews were conducted in the villages of south-east of Meru and half in two women´s shelters in Arusha town. The interviews were supported by participant observation and informal conversations. The data was transcribed and analysed through qualitative content analysis. This study focuses on assessing the main factors that affect the resilience of young mothers during pregnancy and motherhood. Resilience is assessed through reproductive resilience framework. The meaning of resources (capitals) in the lives of single mothers was also assessed. Moreover, the social discourses regarding gender, sexuality and motherhood were examined in order to gain understanding of how they impact the experience of young single mothers. The findings show that social support operates as a protective factor in building resilience for the young single mothers. However, the findings show that young single mothers struggle to receive support during pregnancy. This is mainly because the negative social discourses regarding girl’s sexuality and pregnancy outside wedlock in Tanzania. The results show that young mothers face strong discrimination during pregnancy, both from their families, friends and community, which operated as a constraining factor for resilience. The discrimination had profound impact on of the resilience of the young mothers during pregnancy, as it often disrupted family relations and sometimes led to separation of the girl from her family. The shame of unmarried pregnancy diminished the support networks the young mothers had. Furthermore, the findings show that young mothers are able to receive more support during motherhood from their families and communities. Young mothers would no longer receive discrimination or verbal abuse in their communities. The findings show that the role of motherhood in the community is highly respect and therefore the young mothers were accepted in the community as any mothers. Motherhood itself operated as both protective and constraining factor for resilience. Becoming mother decreased the shame of unmarried pregnancy and raised the young mothers in highly valued positions of mothers in their societies. Some young mothers had managed to renegotiate their place in the family after the pregnancy experience and were again accepted in their families. Regardless of the financial challenges that young motherhood brought to the informants the mothers who had managed to keep their social support relations were showing positive adjustment to motherhood. Most young mothers embraced their roles as mothers, because it brought them value and made them acceptable members in their communities after the negative pregnancy experiences.

Gambling opportunities have increased rapidly during recent years. Previous research shows that gambling is a popular activity among youth, which may contribute to problem gambling. This study examined how social identification with online and offline peer groups associates with youth problem gambling behavior and if perceived social support buffers this relationship. Data were gathered with an online survey with 1212 American and 1200 Finnish participants between 15 and 25 years of age. Measures included the South Oaks Gambling Screen for problem gambling, and items for peer group identification and perceived social support. It was found that youth who identify strongly with offline peer groups were less likely to engage in problem gambling, while strong identification with online peer groups had the opposite effect. We also found that the associations between social identification and problem gambling behavior were moderated by perceived social support. Online peer groups may be a determinant in youth problem gambling. Focusing on offline peer groups and increasing social support can hold significant potential in youth gambling prevention.

Mental health problems are increasing, and adolescents are particularly sensitive to the development of psychological complaints. The aim of this thesis was to find out if the experience of psychological complaints among Finnish-Swedish adolescents can be explained by their experience of family support, peer support, classmate support and loneliness. It was also examined whether associations between social support and psychological complaints can be explained by loneliness. In addition, it was investigated if there are differences in experiences of psychological complaints, social support and loneliness between Finnish-Swedish youth living in the city and in the countryside. A sample of 599 Finnish-Swedish youth from grades 5, 7 and 9 completed the Health Survey of School-aged Children (HBSC) in 2018. As statistical analysis methods of this thesis, Spearman's rank correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, mediation analysis, independent t-test and chi2 test were used. The results showed that family support and classmate support significantly and negatively predicted psychological complaints, that is, lower levels of family and classmate support was associated with higher levels of psychological complaints. Loneliness predicted psychological complaints significantly and positively, which means that higher levels of loneliness was associated with higher levels of psychological complaints. Peer support was not directly related to psychological complaints. Girls experienced psychological complaints to a significantly greater extent than boys according to several analyzes, and one of the analyzes also indicated that pupils in grade 9 experienced significantly higher levels of nervousness than pupils in grade 5. Among pupils in grades 7 and 9, those who lived in rural areas experienced more irritability or bad mood than those living in urban areas. Perceived socioeconomic status predicted psychological complaints significantly and negatively among pupils in grades 7 and 9. According to the results, the relationship between social support from family, peers and classmates, and psychological complaints could partly be explained by loneliness. There were no significant differences between Finnish-Swedish youth living in cities and those living in rural areas in terms of psychological complaints, social support or loneliness when pupils from all three grades were included in the analyzes. This thesis contributes to new knowledge about the well-being of Finnish-Swedish youth and could encourage development of health-promoting activities. Longitudinal research is needed in order to gain a deeper understanding of whether lower levels of social support and experiences of loneliness may be risk factors for the development of mental health problems.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed work life profoundly and concerns regarding the mental well-being of employees' have arisen. Organizations have made rapid digital advancements and have started to use new collaborative tools such as social media platforms overnight. Objective: Our study aimed to investigate how professional social media communication has affected work engagement before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of perceived social support, task resources, and psychological distress as predictors and moderators of work engagement. Methods: Nationally representative longitudinal survey data were collected in 2019-2020, and 965 respondents participated in all 4 surveys. Measures included work engagement, perceived social support and task resources, and psychological distress. The data were analyzed using a hybrid linear regression model. Results: Work engagement remained stable and only decreased in autumn 2020. Within-person changes in social media communication at work, social support, task resources, and psychological distress were all associated with work engagement. The negative association between psychological distress and work engagement was stronger in autumn 2020 than before the COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted pressure on mental health at work. Fostering social support and task resources at work is important in maintaining work engagement. Social media communication could help maintain a supportive work environment.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of services, but at the same time, some user groups are excluded due to a lack of digital skills. One of the vulnerable groups is people with mental health problems. It has previously been found that self-efficacy beliefs explain the use of digital technology, but the role of social support is largely unexamined. Bandura's concept of proxy agency provides a useful concept to investigate the role of social support in using digital services. Objective: The study investigates sources of social support and the effect of proxy agency, Internet efficacy, and self-efficacy beliefs on the intention to use digital health and social care services. Methods: Participants (N = 121) were users in community-based mental health services who were recruited through four organizations in southern Finland for a cross-sectional study. The scales for proxy agency and intention to use services were developed for purpose of the study. The questionnaire also comprised self-efficacy and Internet efficacy scales. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis. Results: Both Internet self-efficacy and proxy efficacy (p < 0.001) predicted the intention to use digital health and social care services. Self-efficacy had an indirect positive effect on intention through Internet self-efficacy. Family members and friends were the main source of social support in using digital services. Conclusion: Internet self-efficacy and proxy efficacy are important contributors to the intention to use digital health and social care services. Proxy agents may serve as facilitators to reduce the digital divide and promote the use of digital services by complementing individuals' self-efficacy and Internet self-efficacy beliefs. It is important to develop different forms of social support, such as peer support, to enhance the quality of proxy agency. The limitations of proxy agency are discussed.

The aim of this thesis was to examine the effect of discrimination and social support on psychological well-being of immigrants. It addressed previous contradictory findings regarding the direct and moderating effect of social support on psychological well-being. A sample including 78 Brazilian immigrants in Finland was studied. Six separated 3-steps hierarchical regression analysis was used to investigate the main and moderating effect of perceived social support from friends, family and significant other on one hand and frequency of contact with host and ethnic social networks on the other. Of those variables included in the regression models Perceived discrimination was found to be the major predictor of psychological well-being. No direct effect of social support on psychological well-being was found. The moderating effect of social support from host networks on psychological well-being was further examined in the light of the stress-buffering and stress-exacerbation hypotheses. According to the results, an exacerbating effect of social support on psychological well-being was found among those immigrants reporting high level of discrimination. Both the high level host contact group and the low level host contact group suffered from the damaging effect of discrimination. But perceived discrimination had a more aggravating effect on the psychological well-being for those immigrants reporting high frequency of contact with host networks. An overall beneficial effect of the frequency of social contact with host networks was found. Having higher level of active contact with host nationals was better off even for the worst case of discrimination. Additionally, emphasis was given to the importance of the quality of interpersonal relationships involved in understanding the forces behind the effects of social support networks on the psychological well-being of immigrants. Tämän tutkimuksen päämääränä oli tutkia syrjinnän ja sosiaalisen tuen vaikutusta maahanmuuttajien henkiseen hyvinvointiin. Aikaisemmin on saatu ristiriitaisia tuloksia siitä, mikä on sosiaalisen tuen suora tai epäsuora vaikutus. Tutkimusaineistona oli 78 brasilialaista Suomessa asuvaa maahanmuuttajaa. Kuutta erillistä kolmivaiheista hierarkkista regressioanalyysiä käytettiin tutkittaessa suoraa ja epäsuoraa vaikutusta , jonka yhtäältä ystävien, perheen ja muiden merkittävien henkilöiden antama sosiaalinen tuki aiheuttaa ja toisaalta suomalaisten ja etnisen sosiaalisen verkon tuen määrä. Näistä regressiomalleihin liittyvistä muuttujista henkilöiden kokema syrjintä näytti olevan henkisen hyvinvoinnin tärkein ennusteeseen vaikuttava asia. Suoran sosiaalisen tuen vaikutusta henkiseeen hyvinvointiin ei voitu havaita Epäsuoraa vaikutusta henkiseen hyvinvointiin on tutkittu sen hypoteesin valossa, että jokin suomalaisten verkon sosiaalinen tuki lieventää stressiä ja toinen asia pahentaa sitä. Tulosten mukaan niillä maahanmuuttajilla, jotka kokivat paljon syrjintää sosiaalisen tuen stressiä pahentava vaikutus henkiseen hyvinvointiin oli voimakkaampi. Sekä ryhmä, jolla oli paljon kontakteja suomalaisiin että se ryhmä, jolla oli vähän kontakteja kärsi syrjinnän vahingollisista vaikutuksista. Niiden maahanmuuttajien kokema syrjintä, joilla oli laaja suomalaisten verkosto, oli kuitenkin kielteiseltä vaikutukseltaan vakavampaa. Kaiken kaikkiaan sosiaalisten kontaktien tiiviys suomalaisten kanssa havaittiin vaikutuksiltaan hyväksi. Henkilöillä, joilla oli aktiiviset kontaktit suomalaisiin selvisivät parhaiten myös pahimmissa syrjintätapauksissa. Lisäksi korostettiin henkilösuhteiden laadun tärkeyttä, niiden sosiaalisen tuen verkostoissa olevien voimien ymmärtämisessä , jotka vaikuttavat maahanmuuttajien hyvinvointiin Avainsanoja: maahanmuutto, sosiaalinen tuki, maahanmuuttajan kokema syrjintä, henkinen hyvinvointi, stressiä lieventävä, stresssiä pahentava

Goals: The goal of this study was to find out how social support from different sources (family, friends and significant other) is connected with depressive symptoms among adolescents and young adults. It was also investigated whether the significance of different sources of support changes as the adolescents mature. Depression is one of the most common mental health disorder in the world. Its incidence rises sharply after puberty and, if left untreated, it can have serious consequences for the wellbeing, health and development of adolescents. A number of previous studies have shown that social support is inversely connected with depressive symptoms in all ages and social contexts. Most studies of social support have used assessment instruments measuring perceived social support, which is an individual's cognitive appraisals of the availability of support in times of need. Social support can enhance mental health by buffering the negative effects of stressful life events or by having direct positive effects on well-being. According to Bronfenbrenner's ecological system's theory, the development of adolescents was examined in the context of their changing social networks. Adolescents usually receive support from multiple sources. Most of them maintain good relationships with their parents across the young age. However, when adolescents become more independent from their parents, relationships with friends and significant others usually become closer and more important. Methods: The data was from the national Young Finns Study psychology part conducted in 1992 and 1997. In 1992, there were 2330 participants who were 15-30 years old. Thus, in 1997 the participants were 20-35 years old. There were 1678 participants who answered questionnaires both in 1992 and in 1997. The data was analyzed using one-way variance analysis and linear regression. Results and conclusions: The participants perceived quite a lot of social support. The youngest group (15-18 years old) received less support from friends and significant others than their older counterparts. However, the level of family support was equal in all age groups. Support from both family and friends was inversely connected with depressive symptoms: the more the participant received social support, the fewer depressive symptoms she/he had. However, support from the significant other was not connected with depressive symptoms. The connection between social support from different sources and depressive symptoms was similar across different age groups. In five years follow-up, social support was only slightly connected with depressive symptoms. The connection was stronger in women than in men, but the differences were small. In order to tackle depression, it is important for adolescents to receive enough support from their families and also have positive peer relations in addition to the family social environment

The present study investigated the variation in higher education students' study burnout experiences and how they are related to academic success and social support needs. Similarities and differences between the international and domestic students were also explored. In this mixed-methods study, the data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire, and a total of 902 (response rate 42%) first year master's students from the fields of arts, business and technology responded. Using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), we detected three distinct study burnout risk profiles (No exhaustion or cynicism; Exhausted; Exhausted and cynical). The following distinct forms of social support needs were found using theory-based qualitative content analysis: informational, instrumental, emotional, and co-constructional support. We found out that the students with highest risk of burnout had the lowest grade point averages (GPAs). Further investigation showed that international students pass their courses despite the experiences of study burnout, even though the GPAs might deteriorate. When the domestic students experience study burnout symptoms, they both gain fewer study credits and earn lower GPAs. Finally, a relationship between the form of support needed and the burnout profile was identified.