Assessing overall fit is a topic of keen interest to structural equation modelers, yet measuring goodness of fit has been hampered by several factors. First, the assumptions that underlie the chi-square tests of model fit often are violated. Second, many fit measures (e.g., Bentler and Bonett's [1980] normed fit index) have unknown statistical distributions so that hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, or comparisons of significant differences in these fit indices are not possible. Finally, modelers have little knowledge about the distribution and behavior of the fit measures for misspecified models or for nonnested models. Given this situation, bootstrapping techniques would appear to be an ideal means to tackle these problems. Indeed, Bentler's (1989) EQS 3.0 and Jöreskog and Sörbom's (forthcoming) LISREL 8 have bootstrap resampling options to bootstrap fit indices. In this article the authors (a) demonstrate that the usual bootstrapping methods will fail when applied to the original data, (b) explain why this occurs, and, (c) propose a modified bootstrap method for the chi-square test statistic for model fit. They include simulated and empirical examples to illustrate their results.

A model of maternal postpartum depression was tested in which difficult infant temperament was construed as a stressor and supportive interpersonal relationships were construed as a protective resource. It was hypothesized that both infant temperamental difficulty and level of social support would affect maternal depression through the cognitive mediation of perceived self-efficacy in the parenting role. Participants were 55 married women who were assessed during pregnancy and again 3 months postpartum. Infant temperament was assessed through observation, maternal crying records, and the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire. Results of a path analysis indicated that infant temperamental difficulty was strongly related to the mothers' level of postpartum depression, both directly and through the mediation of parenting self-efficacy. Consistent with predictions, social support appeared to exert its protective function against depression primarily through the mediation of self-efficacy. Both practical implications for identifying women at risk for postpartum depression and theoretical implications for understanding the mechanisms through which stressful events and social support affect adjustment are discussed.

One area of positive psychology analyzes subjective well-being (SWB), people's cognitive and affective evaluations of their lives. Progress has been made in understanding the components of SWB, the importance of adaptation and goals to feelings of well-being, the temperament underpinnings of SWB, and the cultural influences on well-being. Representative selection of respondents, naturalistic experience sampling measures, and other methodological refinements are now used to study SWB and could be used to produce national indicators of happiness.

Information and communication technology (ICT) use can mitigate the negative impact of various age-related threats, such as isolation and loneliness, by facilitating connection with social ties and access to social support. Although research regarding various uses and benefits of ICTs among older adults has increased, there is limited research regarding the impact of technical difficulties on older adults’ well-being. Our study explores technical difficulties encountered, how older adults cope with ICT failure, and the various forms of social support that may result as a consequence of accessing technical support. We use data from nine semistructured focus groups conducted with older adults in the Midwest region of the United States. Results show that older adults may adapt new strategies for coping with the technical difficulties that arise from regular ICT use. Furthermore, as older adults incorporate ICTs into their daily lives and seek assistance from social ties and experts, they may also be indirectly combating the threat of isolation and loneliness.

Numerous studies report an association between social support and protection from depression, but no systematic review or meta-analysis exists on this topic.

Research has established a positive relationship between Facebook use and perceptions of social capital, a construct that describes the total resources − both potential and actual − available in one’s social network. However, the process through which social capital conversions occur is unclear. This study presents results from semi-structured interviews with 18 adult Facebook users (ages 25 to 55) about their Facebook use, focusing on how participants use the site to request and provide social support (associated with bonding social capital) and information (associated with bridging social capital). Findings describe how Facebook use facilitates interactions related to social capital and users’ beliefs about the potential negative outcomes of these interactions, providing insight into how users negotiate potential benefits and risks when making decisions about site use.

Social isolation and low levels of social support are associated with depression. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between depression and social connectivity factors (frequency of contact and quality of social connections) in the 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being.A national survey of 8841 participants aged 16-85 years was conducted. Logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between social connectivity factors and 12-month prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder in the whole sample, as well as across three age groups: younger adults (16-34 years), middle-aged adults (35-54 years), and older adults (55+ years). Respondents indicated how often they were in contact with family members and friends (frequency of contact), and how many family and friends they could rely on and confide in (quality of support), and were assessed for Major Depressive Disorder using the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostics Interview.Overall, higher social connection quality was more closely and consistently associated with lower odds of the past year depression, relative to frequency of social interaction. The exception to this was for the older group in which fewer than a single friendship interaction each month was associated with a two-fold increased likelihood of the past year depression (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.14-4.25). Friendship networks were important throughout life, although in middle adulthood, family support was also critically important-those who did not have any family support had more than a three-fold increased odds of the past year depression (OR 3.47, 95% CI 2.07-5.85).High-quality social connection with friends and family members is associated with reduced likelihood of the past year depression. Intervention studies that target the quality of social support for depression, particularly support from friends, are warranted.