9 - Social network and mental health: an intervention study

Summary

Introduction

The first two chapters in Part III have been included to provide readers with a deeper understanding of the benefits of and the challenges posed by conducting experimental intervention studies. In this chapter we describe a preventive programme aimed at improving mental health by improving social networks, which was carried out in a recently established working-class/middle-class neighbourhood with mainly high-rise houses on the outskirts of Oslo, Norway (‘satellite town’). The target group was middle-aged women with poor social networks, low quality of life and a high load of stress symptoms, identified by a survey of a representative sample of middle-aged women in the neighbourhood.

As shown in a previous study from Oslo (Dalgard, 1986), having a qualitatively poor social network increases the risk of mental disorder, especially when living in a new and poorly integrated neighbourhood. Being a woman, especially when middle-aged, adds to this risk (Dalgard, 1980). However, it can not be decided, on the basis of such a cross-sectional study, to what extent a poor social network contributes to the development of mental disorder, possibly as a vulnerability factor, or rather is a consequence of poor mental health. Longitudinal studies and intervention studies are necessary to shed more light on this question. The present chapter describes an intervention project, designed on the basis of the epidemiological study referred to above.