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Helping others helps oneself: response shift effects in peer support

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  • Schwartz, Carolyn E.
  • Sendor, Rabbi Meir

Abstract

The present work explores the impact of helping others on the physical and psychosocial well-being of the provider. Lay people were trained to listen actively and to provide compassionate, unconditional positive regard to others with the same chronic disease. The recipients of the peer support intervention were participants of a psychosocial randomized trial, whereas the peer supporters were study personnel and were therefore not randomized. We describe a secondary analysis of a randomized trial to explore the impact of being a peer supporter on these lay people. Subjects were 132 people with multiple sclerosis, all of whom completed quality-of-life questionnaires 3 times over 2 years. A focus group was also implemented with the peer telephone supporters 3 years after completion of the randomized trial. Effect size was computed for each quality-of-life outcome, and the focus group discussion was content analyzed. We found that compared to supported patients, the peer telephone supporters: (1) reported more change in both positive and negative outcomes as compared to the supported patients and that the effect size of these changes tended to be larger ([chi]2=9.6, df=4, p

Suggested Citation

  • Schwartz, Carolyn E. & Sendor, Rabbi Meir, 1999. "Helping others helps oneself: response shift effects in peer support," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(11), pages 1563-1575, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:48:y:1999:i:11:p:1563-1575
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Britt Borregaard & Mette Spliid Ludvigsen, 2018. "Exchanging narratives—A qualitative study of peer support among surgical lung cancer patients," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1-2), pages 328-336, January.
    2. Annand, PJ & Platt, Lucy & Rathod, Sujit D. & Hosseini, Paniz & Guise, Andrew, 2022. "‘Progression capitals’: How homeless health peer advocacy impacts peer advocates," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    3. John F. Helliwell, 2011. "How Can Subjective Well-being Be Improved?," New Directions for Intelligent Government in Canada: Papers in Honour of Ian Stewart, in: Fred Gorbet & Andrew Sharpe (ed.),New Directions for Intelligent Government in Canada: Papers in Honour of Ian Stewart, pages 283-304, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    4. José Giménez-Nadal & Raquel Ortega, 2015. "Time Dedicated to Family by University Students: Differences by Academic Area in a Case Study," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 132-142, March.
    5. John F. Helliwell & Lara B. Aknin & Hugh Shiplett & Haifang Huang & Shun Wang, 2017. "Social Capital and Prosocial Behaviour as Sources of Well-Being," NBER Working Papers 23761, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Xinguang Chen & Peigang Wang & Rhiana Wegner & Jie Gong & Xiaoyi Fang & Linda Kaljee, 2015. "Measuring Social Capital Investment: Scale Development and Examination of Links to Social Capital and Perceived Stress," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 120(3), pages 669-687, February.
    7. Maes, Kenneth C. & Hadley, Craig & Tesfaye, Fikru & Shifferaw, Selamawit, 2010. "Food insecurity and mental health: Surprising trends among community health volunteers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during the 2008 food crisis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1450-1457, May.
    8. John F. Helliwell, 2014. "Understanding and improving the social context of well-being," Chapters, in: Timo J. Hämäläinen & Juliet Michaelson (ed.), Well-Being and Beyond, chapter 5, pages 125-143, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Yiyi Chen & Jiaqi Lu & Canghai Guan & Shiyang Zhang & Spencer De Li, 2022. "In the Shadow of the Casinos: The Relationship between Religion and Health in Macau," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-18, May.
    10. Maria Sääksjärvi & Katarina Hellén & Pieter Desmet, 2016. "The effects of the experience recommendation on short- and long-term happiness," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 675-686, December.
    11. Gale, Nicola K. & Kenyon, Sara & MacArthur, Christine & Jolly, Kate & Hope, Lucy, 2018. "Synthetic social support: Theorizing lay health worker interventions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 96-105.
    12. Carol Brownson & Michele Heisler, 2009. "The Role of Peer Support in Diabetes Care and Self-Management," The Patient: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Springer;International Academy of Health Preference Research, vol. 2(1), pages 5-17, March.
    13. Nahum-Shani, Inbal & Bamberger, Peter A., 2011. "Explaining the variable effects of social support on work-based stressor-strain relations: The role of perceived pattern of support exchange," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 49-63, January.
    14. Carolyn Schwartz & Penelope Keyl & John Marcum & Rita Bode, 2009. "Helping Others Shows Differential Benefits on Health and Well-being for Male and Female Teens," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 431-448, August.
    15. Shalini Bahl & George R. Milne & Kunal Swani, 2023. "An expanded mindful mindset: The role of different skills in stress reduction and life satisfaction," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(2), pages 821-847, April.
    16. John Helliwell & Haifang Huang & Shun Wang, 2014. "Social Capital and Well-Being in Times of Crisis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 145-162, February.
    17. Takeo Fujiwara, 2009. "Is Altruistic Behavior Associated with Major Depression Onset?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(2), pages 1-6, February.
    18. Chandra, Yanto, 2017. "Social entrepreneurship as emancipatory work," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 657-673.

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