Increasing Social Support for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness: Evaluating the Compeer Model of Intentional Friendship

We conducted a quasi-experimental study of Compeer, which matches community volunteers and people with SMI to increase social support. Seventy-five adults with SMI received community psychiatric treatments-usual (TAU) while 79 adults received Compeer services plus TAU. Compeer clients reported significant improvements in social support and a trend towards improved subjective well-being. After 6 months, social support increased >1 SD for 13%, increasing to 23% at 12 months, supporting qualitative research suggesting the “active ingredient” in intentional friendships often takes more than 1 year to develop. This subgroup of responders showed significant gains in subjective well-being and reductions in psychiatric symptoms.

[1]  C. Tolsdorf,et al.  Social networks, support, and coping: an exploratory study. , 1976, Family process.

[2]  D. Satcher.  Mental Health: A Report of the Surgen General , 1999 .

[3]  Elizabeth F. Loftus,et al.  The development of meaning , 1977 .

[4]  D. Shern,et al.  Client outcomes II: Longitudinal client data from the Colorado treatment outcome study. , 1994, The Milbank quarterly.

[5]  K. Glanz,et al.  Health Behavior and Health Education , 1990 .

[6]  Lloyd I. Sederer,et al.  Outcomes assessment in clinical practice , 1996 .

[7]  P. Deegan.  Spirit breaking: When the helping professions hurt , 1990 .

[8]  Regan A. R. Gurung,et al.  Close personal relationships and health outcomes: A key to the role of social support. , 1997 .

[9]  M. Rosenberg.  Society and the adolescent self-image , 1966 .

[10]  L. Sederer,et al.  Acute and chronic psychiatric care: Establishing boundaries , 2005, Psychiatric Quarterly.

[11]  K. Herth.  Development and refinement of an instrument to measure hope. , 1991, Scholarly inquiry for nursing practice.

[12]  C. L. Baeyer,et al.  Prediction of outcome , 2004 .

[13]  J. Walsh,et al.  Supportive behaviors in natural support networks of people with serious mental illness. , 1996, Health & social work.

[14]  Nicholas Tarrier,et al.  Handbook of Social Functioning in Schizophrenia , 1998 .

[15]  B. Angell.  Contexts of Social Relationship Development Among Assertive Community Treatment Clients , 2003, Mental health services research.

[16]  L. Davidson,et al.  "It was just realizing ... that life isn't one big horror": a qualitative study of supported socialization. , 2001, Psychiatric rehabilitation journal.

[17]  M. McKasson,et al.  A multisite study of client outcomes in assertive community treatment. , 1995, Psychiatric services.

[18]  P. Corrigan,et al.  Some Recovery Processes in Mutual-Help Groups for Persons with Mental Illness; II: Qualitative Analysis of Participant Interviews , 2005, Community Mental Health Journal.

[19]  E. Martinsen,et al.  Quality of life, loneliness, and social contact among long-term psychiatric patients. , 1999, Psychiatric services.

[20]  W. Anthony,et al.  The Nature and Dimensions of Social Support Among Individuals with Severe Mental Illnesses , 2004, Community Mental Health Journal.

[21]  M. Harris,et al.  Networking with young adult chronic patients. , 1985 .

[22]  Irwin G. Sarason,et al.  Social support : theory, research and applications , 1985 .

[23]  People with Serious Mental Illness Compeer Friends: a Qualitative Study of a Volunteer Friendship Programme for , 2009 .

[24]  S. Duck,et al.  Handbook of personal relationships: Theory, research and interventions. , 1998 .

[25]  A. Rollins,et al.  Social network correlates among people with psychiatric disabilities. , 2003, Psychiatric rehabilitation journal.

[26]  Larry Davidson,et al.  Peer Support Among Individuals with Severe Mental Illness , 2006 .

[27]  S. Murrell,et al.  Service providers in the social networks of clients with severe mental illness. , 1994, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[28]  Patrick W. Corrigan,et al.  Social Support and Recovery in People with Serious Mental Illnesses , 2004, Community Mental Health Journal.

[29]  L. Davidson,et al.  Loss, loneliness, and the desire for love: Perspectives on the social lives of people with schizophrenia. , 1997 .

[30]  A. Lehman,et al.  A Quality of Life Interview for the chronically mentally ill. , 1988 .

[31]  B. Israel,et al.  Social networks and social support. , 2008 .

[32]  L. Hansson,et al.  Quantitative and Qualitative Aspects of the Social Network in Schizophrenic Patients Living in the Community. Relationship To Sociodemographic Characteristics and Clinical Factors and Subjective Quality of Life , 2001, The International journal of social psychiatry.

[33]  E. Dunn,et al.  Compeer Friends: a Qualitative Study of a Volunteer Friendship Programme for People with Serious Mental Illness , 2009, The International journal of social psychiatry.

[34]  P. Solomon.  Peer support/peer provided services underlying processes, benefits, and critical ingredients. , 2004, Psychiatric rehabilitation journal.

[35]  Valerie Stevenson,et al.  How are we doing? , 1993, Pennsylvania medicine.

[36]  C. Holahan,et al.  Social Support, Coping, and Psychological Adjustment , 1997 .

[37]  E S Rogers,et al.  A consumer-constructed scale to measure empowerment among users of mental health services. , 1997, Psychiatric services.

[38]  R. Schwarzer,et al.  Social support and health: A meta-analysis , 1989 .

[39]  Sheldon Cohen,et al.  Positive Events and Social Supports as Buffers of Life Change Stress , 1983 .

[40]  P. Crotty,et al.  Social Support Networks: The Views of Schizophrenic Clients and Their Significant Others , 1985 .

[41]  G. Green,et al.  The role and impact of social relationships upon well-being reported by mental health service users: A qualitative study , 2002 .

[42]  D. J. Lee.  Society and the Adolescent Self-Image , 1969 .

[43]  T. Furukawa,et al.  Social Support Questionnaire among psychiatric patients with various diagnoses and normal controls , 1999, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

[44]  J. Buchanan.  Social support and schizophrenia: a review of the literature. , 1995, Archives of psychiatric nursing.

[45]  L. Davidson,et al.  Supported socialization for people with psychiatric disabilities: Lessons from a randomized controlled trial , 2004 .

[46]  L. Covi,et al.  The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL): a self-report symptom inventory. , 1974, Behavioral science.

[47]  Mary E. Wilson,et al.  The FRIENDS program: A peer support group model for individuals with a psychiatric disability. , 1999 .

[48]  D. Campbell,et al.  EXPERIMENTAL AND QUASI-EXPERIMENT Al DESIGNS FOR RESEARCH , 2012 .

[49]  F. Baker,et al.  Community support services and functioning of the seriously mentally ill , 1993, Community Mental Health Journal.

[50]  Irwin G. Sarason,et al.  Sourcebook of Social Support and Personality , 1997 .

[51]  T. Kamarck,et al.  Measuring the Functional Components of Social Support , 1985 .

[52]  P. Corrigan,et al.  Recovery as a Psychological Construct , 1999, Community Mental Health Journal.

[53]  R. L. Leavy,et al.  Social support and psychological disorder: a review. , 1983, Journal of community psychology.

[54]  M. Dimatteo,et al.  Social support and patient adherence to medical treatment: a meta-analysis. , 2004, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[55]  C. Mowbray,et al.  Consumer-operated drop-in centers: Evaluation of operations and impact , 2006, The journal of mental health administration.

[56]  P. Corrigan,et al.  Some Recovery Processes in Mutual-Help Groups for Persons with Mental Illness; I: Qualitative Analysis of Program Materials and Testimonies , 2002, Community Mental Health Journal.

[57]  L. Davidson,et al.  How Are We Doing? A Statewide Survey of Community Adjustment Among People with Serious Mental Illness Receiving Intensive Outpatient Services , 2000, Community Mental Health Journal.

[58]  R. Almond,et al.  The development of meaning in life. , 1973, Psychiatry.

[59]  G. Thornicroft,et al.  The COSTAR Programme. 1: Improving Social Networks of the Long-Term Mentally Ill , 1991, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[60]  Robert P. Marinelli,et al.  The psychological and social impact of disability , 1991 .

[61]  M. Gabe.  Mental health: a report of the Surgeon General. , 2000, Home care provider.

[62]  J. Strauss,et al.  Prediction of outcome in schizophrenia. III. Five-year outcome and its predictors. , 1977, Archives of general psychiatry.

[63]  C. Mercier,et al.  Components of Social Support and Quality of Life in Severely Mentally Ill, Low Income Individuals and a General Population Group , 1998, Community Mental Health Journal.

[64]  G. Brown,et al.  Befriending as an intervention for chronic depression among women in an inner city , 1999, British Journal of Psychiatry.