Resilience, Identity Tension, Hope, Social Capital, and Psychological Stress During a Pandemic.

The present study examines two conceptual approaches to defining resilience and the implications for its effect on psychological stress. One approach places resilience in the communication processes through which individuals and groups develop identity anchors, alternative logics, positive emotion, new normalcies, and communication networks during challenging times. The other approach describes the identity tension, hope, and social capital that develops in communication networks as relational attributes that create the contextual constraints and opportunities for that resilience. Regression analysis results demonstrate that both the communication processes and relational attributes of resilience affect psychological stress, but differently. The communication processes of establishing identity anchors, positive emotion, and communication networks predict the situational stress dimension. The relational attributes of personal-relational identity tension, hope, and weak-tie social capital predict the self-efficacy dimension. Both dimensions are important to understanding psychological stress. Hence, viewing resilience as a system of communication processes and relational attributes provides a fuller description of its relationship to psychological stress than either approach alone. This finding has implications for developing proactive strategies to manage the psychological stress of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Relationship of Self-Compassion, Hope, and Emotional Control to Perceived Burdensomeness, Thwarted Belongingness, and Suicidal Ideation.

Background: Cultivating positive feelings of self in relationships with others can affect perceptions of belongingness and burdensomeness. Aims: The present study examines the relationships of self-compassion, hope, and emotional control to thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation. Method: Participants were 481 college students who completed scales measuring self-compassion, hope, emotional control, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation. Results: Correlation and parallel mediation analysis results show relationships between self-compassion, hope, and emotional control with perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and suicidal ideation. Limitations: The study is limited by its cross-sectional design, sample demographics, and inability to distinguish between individuals with suicidal ideation and those who attempt suicide. Conclusion: The results show that the relationships of self-compassion, hope, and emotional control to perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and suicidal ideation are worth further investigation.

The Easier the Better? Comparing the Readability and Engagement of Online Pro- and Anti-Vaccination Articles.

Online anti-vaccine articles contribute to the anti-vaccine movement, which leads to recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Previous studies indicate that anti-vaccine articles are easy to read and understand, which may increase their abilities to engage viewers. The present study aims to examine if readability levels are related to engagement. Using combination of terms to search for vaccine articles in Google in May 2017, this study examined 541 pro-vaccine online articles with a total of 508,571 words and 382 anti-vaccine articles with a total of 843,805 words. Almost all vaccine articles exceeded the American average reading comprehension level. No significant difference in readability was found between pro- and anti-vaccine articles. Pro-vaccine articles that could only be understood by college graduates were less engaging than those with lower readability levels. No significant relationship between anti-vaccine articles' readability and engagement was discovered. Different vaccine topics had different readability and engagement levels, which implied that certain combinations of themes and readability levels could enhance the health messages' persuasion effect. Recommendations for designing effective health messages are provided.

Coping with the ultimate deprivation: narrative themes in a parental bereavement support group.

Support groups are often used to help individuals cope with challenging and unusual life circumstances through narration. Yet, little is known about specific meta-communication within a support group setting and in what ways these interactions may benefit participants. This study uncovers narrative themes that were expressed during a series of support group meetings specific to bereaved parents. Three central narratives were revealed in the analysis including the death story narrative, coping/negotiating narrative, and connecting through communication with others narrative. This research underscores the vital outlet that the support group serves for participants and the communicative means by which subjective healing can occur.