Stephanie L. Brown - US grants

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed three-year research and training plan is designed to foster the academic development of the candidate in preparation for her career as a translation research scientist. Specifically, the plan is intended to (a) foster the candidate's transition from conducting experimental research on interpersonal relationships to conducting pre-intervention research on depression in chronically ill populations and (b) enable the candidate to design an intervention for depression that is informed by her program of research. The research plan is described below. The purpose of the proposed research project is to identify malleable factors that influence depression among patients undergoing dialysis therapy for renal failure. We direct special focus on the exchange of emotional and practical support between dialysis patients and their caregivers in order to isolate the unique effects of giving and receiving. We intend to examine whether giving has beneficial effects for the giver, and whether receiving has adverse effects for recipients who feel like a burden. These possibilities have typically been overlooked. Instead, investigations have focused on the benefits of receiving support from relationship partners (House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988). A longitudinal study consisting of two waves of data collection--baseline and an eight-month follow-up-is proposed to examine the unique effects of giving and receiving social support, feeling like a burden, and a number of other personality and relationship measures on depression, health, and well-being. 160 dialysis patients within the University of Michigan Health Care System will be invited to participate in two 1-hour interviews over the course of eight months. Participants will be asked to respond to questions about their current mental health status (e.g., depression, anxiety), and about their relationship to a caregiver (e.g., social bonds, the exchange of social support). In addition, caregiver reports and medical records indicating patient health and compliance will be correlated with interpersonal relationship measures. The results of this project will be used to develop and test a mental health intervention for dialysis patients that takes into consideration the potential risks and benefits of social support.

The current project seeks to understand whether helping others in need --prosocial behavior-- reduces the stress of the helper. This is a topic of obvious importance. Social psychology has determined that individuals who help others receive personal awards such as elevated moods. In addition, recent work has also found that people who help others live longer, enjoy better help, and recover better faster from depressive symptoms that accompany spousal loss. However, there are no experimental investigations that address either the physiological consequences of helping behavior, or whether psychological benefits mediate the helping-induced benefits. To address this gap in understanding, the proposed study examines the cardiovascular effects of helping behavior. The hypothesis, that helping behavior speeds the cardiovascular recovery from a stress-inducing experience, will be tested in a study involving 50 male and 50 female participants. The procedure involves the manipulation of perspective-taking and inducement of empathic concern for a person in need. Non-invasive measures of cardiovascular recovery (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure) will be used to assess recovery time. The study also includes measures of empathy and positive emotions to examine whether emotions mediate a link between helping behavior and recovery from the stressful experience. This work promises to further understanding of how helping others promote well-being and longevity.

Recent evidence indicates that helping others predicts improvements in the helper's physical and psychological well-being. The proposed studies investigate the extent to which helping insulates the helper against stressors encountered after the helping episode. This research, generated from animal models of caregiving motivation and stress regulation, breaks new ground by exploring the relationship between helping and stress reduction experimentally with human participants. In particular, this research examines whether helping another facilitates recovery from cardiovascular stress as well as the emotional and hormonal correlates that may mediate or moderate links between helping and stress recovery. Seven studies are proposed to address the gap in research on experimental investigations of effects of helping others on the helper's stress response. This research involves manipulating helping (and factors that should affect helping) in human adults, and examining the physiological (cardiovascular and neuroendocrine) antecedents and consequences of these manipulations. Specifically, this research will test the hypothesis that helping others facilitates cardiovascular stress recovery in the helper. In addition, the proposed work will attempt to clarify hormonal and emotional mechanisms through which helping might influence such recovery.