Impact of friends/family support on mental health

Research Methodology

Literature Search

               A systematic search was carried out to retrieve the research articles published on the impacts of friends and family support on mental health. These articles were retrieved were well selected based on the Lipsey and Wilson’s Meta-analysis guide. The primary search was done on the PsycArticles and PsycINFO databases which has a variety of resources on mental health and psychiatry related researches. These articles were vetted to ensure that the selected material were well guided for the research and they were aligned to the research problem, hypothesis and the research questions. The literature search was aimed at identifying research articles on how the presence of friends and family, which may also be defined as social support, is important to patients with mental health. The research articles were to show the impacts of having family and friends close to a mental health patient, whether the impacts were positive or negative.

               The literature search concentrated on research articles published between the years 2017 and 2021 which is a span of five years. Different search terms were used to get relevant material for the meta analysis. These search terms included “social support on mental health, family and friends on mental health, impacts of support on mental health” and “challenges of mental health without social support.” The articles selected for meta-analysis fulfilled the criterion that:

1.     The research article investigated the relationship between friends and family and mental health and how the presence of friends and family was important or not important to mental health patients.

2.     The article contained information on the comparison between mental health patients who received support from friends and family and those who did not receive the support from family and friends, and how their rates of recovery and process of recovery can be compared.

               The research articles were inclusive of all genders and ages in order to address the multicultural concerns. The literature search identified twelve research articles which were closely related to the research topic. Of the twelve articles identified, five met the exact criteria set in this research and they were directly answering the research question of the research and as a result, they were selected for further analysis in the research and to come up with results and conclusion on the study.

Statistical Method

               For the meta-analysis, a Biostat’s Comprehensive Meta-analysis method was used. This method was picked as the most appropriate for this research. The articles selected contained both primary and secondary data and they were both appropriate for the research. There were three primary meta-analysis articles. The primary meta-analysis articles were rich with information on how the presence of friends and family impacted on the rate of recovery of the patient with mental health problems. This was meant to get information to close the information gap at the start of the research and analysis. This was to be used as the background of the entire research. Information was extracted from the articles and tabulated with records on how the patients managed in presence of friends and family and in their absence. There were two secondary research articles which were also examined and the information contained in the research articles also recorded and tabulated to know the relationship which existed between the presence of friends and family with recovery and the life of those with mental health issues.