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    • Embelin Although no other previous study has investigated

    2018-10-24

    Although no other previous study has investigated the associations of social support from both life domains and six different sources each and in relation to diverse health and work-related outcomes, parts of the study findings have been reported previously in earlier studies. Thus Sinokki and colleagues found in a population-based Finnish cross-sectional study a lack of social support, especially at work and from one’s supervisor, to be associated with mental health problems, i.e. with depressive or anxiety disorders (Sinokki et al., 2009) or with sleeping problems, i.e. tiredness and insomnia or sleep disorders (Sinokki et al., 2010). Van Woerden et al. (2011) in their cross-sectional study based on a postal and web-based survey in a district of south-west London observed that social support at work was negatively, significantly and strongly related to poor self-rated health. The associations or effects found were strongest for social support at work (from superiors and colleagues) compared to social support from other networks or sources like family, friends and neighbors (Van Woerden et al., 2011). Moreover, Gok and colleagues just recently reported from a cross-sectional study in a hospital setting in Istanbul that perceived supervisor support was positively associated with job satisfaction (Gok et al., 2015). This finding of a crucial role and contribution of supervisor support with respect to health and work-related well-being, particularly in case of problems at work, is also in line with other previous studies and findings in psychology and health research but at the same time in Embelin to an early meta-analysis of 55 studies on social support and health carried out by Schwarzer and Leppin (1989), which found boss or co-worker support to have a significant but somewhat lower association with poor health than support from family and friends. This inconsistency might be explained by the lack of a distinction between situation-specific aspects of support. Unlike the present study, surveys and studies do not usually differentiate between social support in case of problems at work and at home. However, it can be assumed that in case of problems at home, a lack of support from family and/or friends has a stronger negative health effect whereas in case of problems at work missing support from colleagues and particularly from supervisors is more strongly associated with poor health outcomes. But at least in relation to stress and dissatisfaction at work, a lack of supervisor support was found to be the strongest predictor or risk factor of all sources of support and namely in both cases, i.e. when it comes to problems at work or at home. One important strength of the present study besides the heterogeneity and impressive size of the study sample is its consideration of perceived social support from six different sources and in case of problems of different kinds, i.e. from two major life domains (work and private life). Since the effects of social support from personal, professional and community networks on health and well-being have rarely been compared directly (Van Woerden et al., 2011), this study at least simultaneously examined the effects of support from two of the three major networks. In addition, the effects of social support were studied with regard to eight different outcomes in relation to health and well-being at work. Finally, the study has investigated both the individual and independent as well as cumulative effects of different sources of social support on health and well-being at work.
    Conclusion
    Conflict of interest
    Financial disclosure
    Introduction Positive mental health is a key component of overall health that profoundly affects individuals’ functioning in life and subjective well-being (Keyes, 2009a). Distinct from merely the absence of mental disorder, the World Health Organization characterizes mental health as the ability to realize one’s full potential, cope effectively with stress, work productively, and contribute to community (World Health Organization, 2016). Yet despite this distinction, the promotion of positive mental health is not well understood, particularly during early life. Studies of mental health problems suggest that the foundations of mental health are established from a young age, as it is estimated that half of all lifetime mental health disorders emerge before age 14 and that 14–20% of children under age 17 are affected by a current mental health disorder (Kessler, Berglund, Demler, Jin, Merikangas & Walters, 2005). Within Canada, mental illness is estimated to affect 10–20% of youth aged 12 to 19, with females being disproportionately affected by depressive episodes (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2016; Statistics Canada, 2013). In order to improve upon these outcomes, a recent review of children’s mental health in Canada called for a national public health strategy that addresses underlying socio-economic determinants of mental health (e.g., household income, educational attainment, and available social support) in order to reduce the development of current and future mental health problems in children (Reiss, 2013; Waddell, McEwan, Shepherd, Offord, & Hua, 2005).