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doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.54.4.416pmid: N/A
It is useful to reconceptualize social support as coping assistance. If the same coping strategies used by individuals in response to stress are those that are applied to distressed persons as assistance, models of coping and support can be integrated. To illustrate the utility of such an integration, coping strategies and support strategies are derived from a more general theory of stress-buffering processes in this article. A variety of supportive strategies not previously identified by researchers are derived. Further, predictions regarding efficacious and nonefficacious types of support are made, and empathic understanding (based on sociocultural and situational similarities between a distressed person and a helper) is identified as a crucial condition for coping assistance to be sought, accepted, and found effective.
doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.54.4.416pmid: N/A
It is useful to reconceptualize social support as coping assistance. If the same coping strategies used by individuals in response to stress are those that are applied to distressed persons as assistance, models of coping and support can be integrated. To illustrate the utility of such an integration, coping strategies and support strategies are derived from a more general theory of stress-buffering processes in this article. A variety of supportive strategies not previously identified by researchers are derived. Further, predictions regarding efficacious and nonefficacious types of support are made, and empathic understanding (based on sociocultural and situational similarities between a distressed person and a helper) is identified as a crucial condition for coping assistance to be sought, accepted, and found effective.
Monroe, Scott M.; Bromet, Evelyn J.; Connell, Melanie M.; Steiner, Stephen C.
doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.54.4.424pmid: N/A
Recent work on the social environment and psychological disorder has emphasized the multiple, bidirectional interactions between stressors, symptoms, and social support. However, even the few existing studies using prospective methods often have not adequately addressed important issues involving methodological and conceptual overlap of the parameters in the model. The current article presents one approach for isolating associations between life events, social support, and depressive symptoms. For a sample of married women who initially were relatively asymptomatic and reported nonconflicted marital relationships (n= 473), life events and social support were significant prospective predictors of depressive symptomatology (assessed 1 year later). In contrast, identical analyses performed on the full, unselected sample (N= 709) yielded discrepant, likely misleading, results. The theoretical relevance of these findings is discussed, along with the implications for the longitudinal study of dynamically interactive processes.
doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.54.4.424pmid: N/A
Recent work on the social environment and psychological disorder has emphasized the multiple, bidirectional interactions between stressors, symptoms, and social support. However, even the few existing studies using prospective methods often have not adequately addressed important issues involving methodological and conceptual overlap of the parameters in the model. The current article presents one approach for isolating associations between life events, social support, and depressive symptoms. For a sample of married women who initially were relatively asymptomatic and reported nonconflicted marital relationships (n= 473), life events and social support were significant prospective predictors of depressive symptomatology (assessed 1 year later). In contrast, identical analyses performed on the full, unselected sample (N= 709) yielded discrepant, likely misleading, results. The theoretical relevance of these findings is discussed, along with the implications for the longitudinal study of dynamically interactive processes.
doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.54.4.432pmid: N/A
We examine (a) the extent to which there is agreement between a principal and network respondent in their report of whether social support is provided or received (i.e., veridicality); (b) the relation between veridicality and feelings of closeness; and (c) the effect of veridicality on well-being. Respondents were part of a larger national study and included 218 principal respondents over 70 (aged 70 to 95) and 497 network members (aged 18 to 92). Specific veridicality ranged from 49% to 60%; overall veridicality reached a high of 79%. When examined by relationship, both specific and overall veridicality was highest between spouses, somewhat high among other family members, and lowest among friends. Feelings of closeness were significantly related to veridicality; principal respondents who reported feeling close to their network members had greater veridicality. Finally, veridicality was not significantly related to life satisfaction, happiness, or negative affect.
Antonucci, Toni C.; Israel, Barbara A.
doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.54.4.432pmid: N/A
We examine (a) the extent to which there is agreement between a principal and network respondent in their report of whether social support is provided or received (i.e., veridicality); (b) the relation between veridicality and feelings of closeness; and (c) the effect of veridicality on well-being. Respondents were part of a larger national study and included 218 principal respondents over 70 (aged 70 to 95) and 497 network members (aged 18 to 92). Specific veridicality ranged from 49% to 60%; overall veridicality reached a high of 79%. When examined by relationship, both specific and overall veridicality was highest between spouses, somewhat high among other family members, and lowest among friends. Feelings of closeness were significantly related to veridicality; principal respondents who reported feeling close to their network members had greater veridicality. Finally, veridicality was not significantly related to life satisfaction, happiness, or negative affect.
Lehman, Darrin R.; Ellard, John H.; Wortman, Camille B.
doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.54.4.438pmid: N/A
As part of a study of the long-term effects of bereavement, 94 people who had lost either a spouse (N= 40) or a child (N= 54) in a motor vehicle accident 4–7 years earlier were asked to describe support attempts from others that were helpful and unhelpful. Support attempts most frequently mentioned as helpful were contact with a similar other and opportunity to express feelings; those most frequently mentioned as unhelpful were giving advice and encouraging recovery. To understand better the unhelpful support attempts, comparisons were made with 100 control respondents’ reports of what they would do or say to help a bereaved person. The possibility that unhelpful support attempts occur because people do not know what to say to bereaved persons seems implausible in view of the enlightened responses given by controls. Furthermore, the close correspondence between bereaved respondents’ reports of how recovered they felt and control respondents’ estimates of how recovered the bereaved would be suggests that unhelpful support attempts are not based on misconceptions about recovery. These findings indicate that factors inherent in the transaction between the bereaved and potential supporters should be addressed in future research concerned with understanding support attempts that fail.
doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.54.4.438pmid: N/A
As part of a study of the long-term effects of bereavement, 94 people who had lost either a spouse (N= 40) or a child (N= 54) in a motor vehicle accident 4–7 years earlier were asked to describe support attempts from others that were helpful and unhelpful. Support attempts most frequently mentioned as helpful were contact with a similar other and opportunity to express feelings; those most frequently mentioned as unhelpful were giving advice and encouraging recovery. To understand better the unhelpful support attempts, comparisons were made with 100 control respondents’ reports of what they would do or say to help a bereaved person. The possibility that unhelpful support attempts occur because people do not know what to say to bereaved persons seems implausible in view of the enlightened responses given by controls. Furthermore, the close correspondence between bereaved respondents’ reports of how recovered they felt and control respondents’ estimates of how recovered the bereaved would be suggests that unhelpful support attempts are not based on misconceptions about recovery. These findings indicate that factors inherent in the transaction between the bereaved and potential supporters should be addressed in future research concerned with understanding support attempts that fail.
Mermelstein, Robin; Cohen, Sheldon; Lichtenstein, Edward; Baer, John S.; Kamarck, Tom
doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.54.4.447pmid: N/A
This article presents two longitudinal, prospective studies examining the role of social support in smoking cessation and maintenance. Three kinds of support factors were assessed: support from a partner directly related to quitting; perceptions of the availability of general (i.e., nonsmoking) support resources; and the presence of smokers in subjects’ social networks. Subjects were smokers in cessation programs. Corroborated smoking status was obtained through 12 months posttreatment. There was evidence for all three support factors, but they operated at different points in the process of cessation and maintenance. High levels of partner support and of the perceived availability of general support were associated with cessation and with short-term (to 3 months posttreatment) maintenance of abstinence. The presence of smokers in subjects’ social networks was a hindrance to maintenance and significantly differentiated between relapsers and long-term (12 months) abstainers.
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