Social Theory in IPT Flashcards
What is the fundamental concept behind social theory in IPT?
Social networks buffer psychological distress from adverse situations (Stuart & Robertson, 2003). When there are social deficits, distress is more likely to prevail.
Group membership is protective against and curative of existing depression.
Evidence (group effectivness)
Dingel et al (2013) used two cohorts (one in psychiatric counselling, the other in either sewing, gym or book clubs). Those who reported that they didnt identify with the group had a 50% liklihood of developing depression again following the treatment. However, only a 1/3 of those who felt they identified with their groups met the criteria for depression following.
Group membership predicted depression 2 and 4 years later, such that fewer group memberships predicted greater depression. Those who identified with one group reduced their liklihood to relapse by 23%, whereas those who felt connected to 3 groups reduced their risk by 68%
Link to which theory
Turner and Tajfel (1972) Social Identity theory
Evidence (discrimination)
- Social support was found to be a buffer against prejudicical discrimination for Phillippino Americans (Lee, 2004)
- The race-based trauma theory was based on findings that discrimination contributed to ill health (Allan, Campos & Wimberley, 2016).
What does social theory believe
That there is a link between mental health and social groups
Cruwys et al. (2015)
4000 aged 50+ with a range of depressive symptoms. Those with fewer social groups reported greater depressive symptoms, and those who had more social groups were less depressed.
Secondly, regardless of how many groups a person originally belonged to originally, the more they joined, the less likely there were to be depressed 5 / 6 years later.
Cruwys et al. (2015) Follow up study
It is unclear whether social isolation causes depression or vice versa. This was examined in a longitudinal study following 21,000 NZ adults examining the relationship between social isolation on psychological distress. There was an effect both way, but the effect of social isolation was 3x stronger.
Cruwys (2015) experimental evidence
Asked 3 groups to either write about one, three or no social groups and complete an impossible task. Once they received their feedback of 0, the people who wrote about no social groups were more likely to interpret their results in an internal, global stable manner (a depressive attributional style).
This suggests that social membership influences how we perceive and deal with negativity.
Barker & Breuer (2015)
Assessed online support groups.
Self-stigma reduced over the 10-week period, but perceived social support did not change. There was no evidence of adverse outcomes. Perceived benefits of OSG participation included connection to others, normalization of depression, and stigma reduction. However, engagement with the OSG was generally low and barriers included concerns over causing harm, feeling different from others, and fears of being judged by others. Considerable barriers exist, although this was a small sample, this study highlights the social functioning issues associated with depression, plus that support (like Sullivan stated) must be genuine, sensitive, sustaining (face to face relations - nothing can replace the effect of actual contact).
Li (2016)
Highly intelligent people experience lower life satisfaction with frequent socialisation.
This was based on evolutionary psychology, in that intelligent people were better problem solvers and did not need aid.
Then why do cities (densely populated areas) have higher average intelligence scores than rural areas? Perhaps because isolating and alienating places (like a city) effect intelligent people less.
Importantly, this highlights how people differ in terms of ideal social belonging, and that if someone enjoys being alone, this does not make them lonely.
Therapist must establish what the person wants
