Social Support Strategies in Online Forums Among Adult Offspring of Parents with Harmful Alcohol Use.

The authors categorized communication strategies employed to exchange social support (type and person centeredness) in three online forums about parents with harmful drinking. Data included discussion postreplies over 2 months; N = 1,644 units of analysis. Support type categories were identification, emotional, informational, network, and esteem. For person centeredness, most messages were moderate (expressed sympathy, provided distraction), followed by high (helped with feelings), and then low (minimized feelings). Adult offspring of parents with harmful drinking predominantly communicate self-interested forms of support in online forums. Based on principles of supportive communication, esteem support and high person centeredness may enhance social support in these settings.

Features of Illness Versus Features of Romantic Relationships as Predictors of Cognitive and Behavioral Coping Among Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes.

For individuals with a chronic illness, such as type 2 diabetes, a multitude of factors may influence the ways people cope with their condition. This study compares characteristics of the illness and characteristics of a patient's romantic relationship as factors that predict coping behaviors for individuals with type 2 diabetes. Specifically, we identify illness uncertainty as a feature of chronic illness, as well as relational uncertainty and interference from partners as relationship characteristics that are associated with coping behaviors. Using Amazon Mechanical Turk, we recruited 500 participants who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and involved in a romantic relationship to complete an online survey about the ways they manage their illness in the context of their relationship. Structural equation model results showed that relational uncertainty and partner interference were both positively associated with the perceived threat of discussing the illness, whereas the effect for illness uncertainty was nonsignificant; thus, relationship characteristics were a more robust predictor of perceived threat than illness characteristics. In turn, the perceived threat of discussing the illness was negatively associated with treatment compliance and positively associated with topic avoidance about the illness. Treatment compliance was also negatively associated with topic avoidance. Implications for health and relationships are discussed.

Partner Facilitation and Partner Interference in Individuals' Weight Loss Goals.

Drawing on the logic of the relational turbulence model, this study examined the ways in which romantic partners facilitate and interfere with individuals' weight loss goals. Participants (N = 122) described the ways in which their romantic partner had recently helped or hindered their weight loss at four times over the course of 2 months. We conducted a content analysis of responses to identify themes of partner facilitation (Research Question 1 [RQ1]) and partner interference (RQ2) in individuals' weight loss goals. Results revealed seven themes of partner facilitation: (a) partner enabling diet, (b) motivation and encouragement, (c) emotional support and positive reinforcement, (d) exercising together, (e) partner enabling exercise, (f) dieting together, and (g) relationship influence and priorities. Four themes of partner interference emerged in the data: (a) inability to plan for healthy meals, (b) inability to control the food environment, (c) preventing or discouraging exercise, and (d) emotional or relational discouragement.