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Background: Functional ability is the important prerequisite to live independently and achieve aging in place, which depends on the complex interaction of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Identifying the trends and influencing factors of functional ability would contribute to the accurate assessment and intervention of geriatric health. This study aimed to disentangle the moderating effect of 3 types of social support, namely objective support, subjective support, and support utilization, on the relationship between frailty and functional ability trajectories., Methods: This was a secondary analysis using data from a prospective 3-wave study with a sample of 777 Chinese community-dwelling older adults. Social support was assessed using the Social Support Rating scale. Frailty was assessed using the FRAIL scale. Functional ability was measured by the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scale. Latent growth curve models were implemented to test their relationships., Results: Objective support but not subjective support or support utilization moderated on the relationship between frailty and functional ability slope. Functional ability decline over time was buffered by objective support among robust individuals but exacerbated among (pre)frail individuals., Conclusions: The moderating effect of social support on the relationship between frailty and functional ability trajectory varies by support types, which reminded that social support may be a promising intervention target to maintain functional independence for frail individuals, opening up a new perspective on social support in the field of disability prevention. Effective interventions should particularly address objective support in conjunction with empowering the frail older population to optimize the trajectory of functional ability., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Simple Summary: Emotional contagion and social support are common phenomena in animals. The study evaluated whether pigs that did not observe the stimulus process could also perceive the negative emotions of their companions and provide social support. Here, the research compared differences in behavioral responses between treated individuals and naive companions by measuring the frequency/duration and latency of behaviors occurring in pigs under different test conditions to determine whether there were behavioral responses of the companions with emotional contagion to support the treated individuals. Whether or not the companions were aware of the source of the negative emotions of the treated pigs, they were able to respond to it in an appropriate emotional way and provide social support to the treated individual. This study expects to confirm the existence of emotional transmission in pigs from multiple perspectives and to provide theoretical references for improving animal welfare in livestock farming. A group that could directly observe (DO) and a group that could not directly observe (NO) were created based on whether or not their peers observed the treatment process, as the treated pig (TP) was treated with electrical shock and the companion pig (CP) either witnessed the treatment inflicted upon TP or not, and a third group was a control group, in which neither pig was stimulated. The behavioral responses of both the TPs and CPs were recorded to evaluate the emotional reaction. The results found that in both the DO and NO groups, the frequency of TP freezing was significantly higher than that of CP, and CP was significantly higher than that of the control group. Interestingly, although the social interaction responses of the CPs were not similar in the DO and NO groups, there were no significant differences between the behaviors of TPs in the DO and NO groups, except for nose–nose contact and a single approach to the partition, which allowed us to conclude that, whether or not the pigs directly observed the negative treatment, they were able to respond accordingly to fear and provide similar social support to their companions who were treated negatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Social support interacted with intrinsic capacity to affect the downward trajectory of functional ability among older adults. • The interaction effects varied with the types of social support. • Functional ability significantly declined over 3 years among older adults. The ecological model of health and ageing has proposed that functional ability (FA) is determined by the interaction between intrinsic capacity (IC) and environmental characteristics. This study empirically examined how social support, as an important social environmental resource, interacts with IC to affect FA trajectories among older adults. This was a prospective three-wave cohort study with a sample of 775 community-dwelling older adults. Social support, IC and FA were assessed using the Social Support Rating Scale, the revised Integrated Care for Older People screening tool and the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, respectively. Latent growth curve models (LGCM) were implemented to test their relationships. FA significantly declined over 3 years, and the detrimental effect of impaired IC on the deterioration rate of FA was buffered by subjective support but was aggravated by support utilization and was not changed by objective support. FA decline among older adults with impaired IC was observed in those with low subjective support or with high support utilization but not in those with high subjective support or with low support utilization. Among older adults with intact IC, FA decline was observed in those with low support utilization but not in those with high support utilization or with low or high subjective support. Subjective support may prevent FA decline among older adults with impaired IC, while support utilization may benefit older adults with intact IC but may be detrimental for those with impaired IC. Social support interventions to optimize FA trajectories should improve older adults' perceptions of support and bridge the gap in support utilization among older adults with impaired IC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To explore the association between self‐efficacy and self‐management by modelling three types of social support as mediators among stroke high‐risk populations. Background: Self‐efficacy and social support (i.e. objective support, subjective support and support utilisation) are important for self‐management among stroke high‐risk populations. Self‐efficacy activates three types of social support, and the effect of social support on self‐management varies by types among chronic patients. Therefore, social support may act as a mediator between self‐efficacy and self‐management, and the mediating role may vary by types of social support. Disentangling the role of these different types of social support can guide tailored interventions. Design: A cross‐sectional study. Methods: This study was conducted among 448 Chinese adults at high risk for stroke. Self‐efficacy, self‐management and social support were assessed using the Self‐Efficacy Scale, the Stroke Self‐management Scale and the Social Support Rating Scale respectively. The PROCESS SPSS Macro version 3.3, model 4 was used to explore the mediating role of different types of social support in the relationship between self‐efficacy and self‐management. This study followed STROBE checklist for cross‐sectional studies (Appendix S1). Results: Self‐efficacy improved three types of social support, and subjective support and support utilisation promoted self‐management, but objective support hindered self‐management. The specific indirect effect of objective support and subjective support was significant but not that of support utilisation. Objective support, subjective support and support utilisation attenuated the total effect of self‐efficacy on self‐management by −23.8%, 23.8% and 7.7% respectively. Conclusions: Mediating effect of social support in the relationship between self‐efficacy and self‐management varies by type, and the positive effect of subjective support is offset by the detrimental effect of objective support. Relevance to clinical practice: Among stroke high‐risk populations, interventions should target objective support and subjective support as well as self‐efficacy to efficiently improve their self‐management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two frailty trajectory classes were identified. • Subjective support delays frailty progression through preventing depression. • Objective support delays frailty progression through promoting physical activity. • Support utilization delays frailty progression through promoting physical activity. • Social support should be considered in the management of frailty. To investigate whether and how social support influenced frailty progression through depressive symptoms and physical activity. Of 1235 community-dwelling older adults enrolled at baseline, 778 (63.0%) undergoing at least one yearly follow-up were included in the final analysis. Data were collected on frailty, social support, depressive symptoms, physical activity and covariates. Two frailty trajectory classes were identified and labeled as alleviated frailty and deteriorated frailty. Subjective support prevented the deterioration of frailty through decreased depressive symptoms, while objective support and support utilization prevented the deterioration of frailty through increased physical activity. The pathways through which social support ameliorates frailty vary by support types. Subjective support interventions should be included in the multifactorial interdisciplinary management of frailty to address social and psychological vulnerabilities, along with objective support and support utilization interventions addressing physical inactivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]