Yuval Kalish

Relations Between Social Support and Psychological and Parental Distress for Lesbian, Single Heterosexual by Choice, and Two-Parent Heterosexual Mothers

Relations between family type and psychological and parental distress and the moderating role of social support were studied for 90 Israeli lesbian mothers, single heterosexual mothers by choice and 2-parent heterosexual mothers who completed measures of psychological distress, well-being, parental distress, and direct and indirect social support. Findings indicated differences on psychological and parental outcome between mothers from the two heterosexual groups. Social support was higher for lesbian than single heterosexual mothers and was correlated with psychological and parental indices. Unique because of the distinctive demographics of Israeli society (especially in relation to Western Europe and North America), this study highlights ways in which social and individual processes affect psychological outcomes among minority groups.

Till stress do us part: On the interplay between perceived stress and communication network dynamics.

This study of perceived stress and communication networks fills 2 theoretical gaps in the literature: First, drawing predominantly on conservation of resource theory and faultline theory, we demonstrate the role of stress as an engine of action in network evolution. Second, we extend the stress literature to the interpersonal domain by arguing that others levels of stress influence the individuals communication network, and this, in turn, changes his or her stress level. At 3 time points, we evaluated the communication ties and perceived stress in a unique field setting comprising 115 male participants (in 6 groups) performing group-based tasks. We introduce stochastic actor-based models for the coevolution of network ties and actor attributes, statistical models that enable causal inferences to be drawn regarding the interplay between dynamic networks and individual attributes. Using these models, we find that over time, individuals experiencing higher levels of perceived stress were less likely to create new communication ties and were more likely to maintain existing ties to others. Participants also tended to communicate with similarly stressed others. Such communication network dynamics further increased individuals levels of perceived stress over time, leading to stress-related vicious cycles. We discuss organizational implications that relate to stress and network-related interventions.