Skip to main content
Log in

The health-related functions of social support

  • Published:
Journal of Behavioral Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Social support research has been hampered by a lack of clarity both in the definitions of social support and in the conceptualization of its effects on health outcomes. The present study compared social network size and three types of perceived social support—tangible, emotional, and informational —in relation to stressful life events, psychological symptoms and morale, and physical health status in a sample of 100 persons 45–64 years old. Social network size was empirically separable from, though correlated with, perceived social support and had a weaker overall relationship to outcomes than did support. Low tangible support and emotional support, in addition to certain life events, were independently related to depression and negative morale; informational support was associated with positive morale. Neither social support nor stressful life events were associated with physical health. It was concluded that social support research would benefit from attention to the multidimensionality of support and greater specificity in hypotheses about the relationship between types of support and adaptational outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andrews, G., Tennant, C., Hewson, D., and Schonell, M. (1978). The relation of social factors to physical and psychiatric illness.Am. J. Epidemiol. 108: 27–35.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berkman, L. F., and Syme, S. L. (1979). Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: A nine-year follow-up study of Alameda County residents.Am. J. Epidemiol. 109: 186–204.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bloom, J. R. (1978). Social support, coping and adjustment to mastectomy. Paper presented at International Congress on Cancer, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

  • Bradburn, N., and Caplovitz, D. (1965).Reports on Happiness: A Pilot Study of Behavior Related to Mental Health, Aldine, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, G. W., Bhrölcháin, M. N., and Harris, T. (1975). Social class and psychiatric disturbance among women in an urban population.Sociology 9: 225–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, A. (1976). Subjective measures of well-being.Am. Psychol. 31: 117–124.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cassel, J. (1976). The contribution of the social environment to host resistance.Am. J. Epidemiol. 104: 107–123.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, S. (1976). Social support as a moderator of life stress.Psychosom. Med. 38: 300–314.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., and McCrae, R. R. (1980a). Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: Happy and unhappy people.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 38: 668–677.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., and McCrae, R. R. (1980b). Somatic complaints in males as a function of age and neuroticism: A longitudinal analysis.J. Behav. Med. 3: 245–258.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coyne, J. C. (1976a). Depression and the response of others.J. Abnorm. Psychol. 85: 186–193.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coyne, J. C. (1976b). Toward an interactional description of depression.Psychiatry 39: 28–40.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coyne, J. C., and Lazarus, R. S. (1980). Cognition, stress, and coping: A transactional perspective. In Kutash, I. L., and Schlesinger, L. B. (eds.),Pressure Point: Perspectives on Stress and Anxiety, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests.Psychometrika 16: 542–548.

    Google Scholar 

  • Croog, S. (1970). The family as a source of stress. In Levine, S., and Scotch, N. A. (eds.),Social Stress, Aldine, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean, A., and Lin, N. (1977). The stress-buffering role of social support.J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 169: 403–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derogatis, L. R., Lipman, R. S., Covi, L., Rickels, K., and Uhlenhuth, E. H. (1970). Dimensions of outpatient neurotic pathology: Comparison of a clinical versus an empirical assessment.J. Consult. Psychol. 34: 164–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derogatis, L. R., Lipman, R. S., Covi, L., and Rickels, K. (1971). Neurotic symptom dimensions: As perceived by psychiatrists and patients of various social classes.Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 24: 454–464.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Derogatis, L. R., Lipman, R. S., Rickels, K., Uhlenhuth, E. H., and Covi, L. (1974). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL): A measure of primary symptom dimensions. In Pichot, P. (ed.),Psychological Measurements in Psychopharmacology. Modern Problems in Pharmacopsychiatry, Vol. 7, Karger, Basel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dohrenwend, B. P. (1974). Problems in defining and sampling the relevant population of stressful life events. In Dohrenwend, B. S., and Dohrenwend, B. P. (eds.),Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ernster, V. L., Sacks, S. T., Selvin, S., and Petrakis, N. L. (1979). Cancer incidence by marital status: U.S. Third National Cancer Survey.J. Nat. Cancer Inst. 63: 567–585.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, S., Schaefer, C., and Lazarus, R. S. (1979). Cognitive processes as mediators of stress and coping. In Hamilton, V., and Warburton, D. M. (eds.),Human Stress and Cognition: An Information-processing Approach, Wiley, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, E. L., and Comstock, G. W. (1980). Epidemiology of life events: Frequency in general populations.Am. J. Epidemiol. 111: 736–752.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gore, S. (1978). The effect of social support in moderating the health consequences of unemployment.J. Health Soc. Behav. 19: 157–165.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties.Am. J. Sociol. 73: 1360–1380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, S. K., Byrne, D. G., Duncan-Jones, P., Adcock, S., Scott, R., and Steele, G. P. (1978). Social bonds in the epidemiology of neurosis: A preliminary communication.Brit. J. Psychiat. 132: 463–466.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, T. H., and Rahe, R. H. (1967). The social readjustment rating scale.J. Psychosom. Res. 11: 213–218.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kanner, A. D., Coyne, J. C., Schaefer, C., and Lazarus, R. S. (1981). Comparison of two modes of stress measurement: Daily hassles and uplifts versus major life events.J. Behav. Med. 4: 1–39.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, B. H., Cassel, J., and Gore, S. (1977). Social support and health.Med. Care 15(5): 47–58.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LaRocco, J. L., House, J. S., and French, J. R. P., Jr. (1980). Social support, occupational stress, and health.J. Health Soc. Behav. 21: 202–218.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S. (1981). The stress and coping paradigm. In Eisdorfer, C., Cohen, D., Kleinman, A., and Maxim, P. (eds.),Theoretical Bases for Psychopathology, Spectrum, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S., and Launier, R. (1978). Stress-related transactions between person and environment. In Pervin, L. A., and Lewis, M. (eds.),Perspectives in Interactional Psychology, Plenum, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S., Kanner, A. D., and Folkman, S. (1980). Emotions: A cognitive-phenomenological analysis. In Plutchik, R., and Kellerman, H. (eds.),Theories of Emotion, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liem, R., and Liem, J. (1978). Social class and mental illness reconsidered: The role of economic stress and social support.J. Health Soc. Behav. 19: 139–156.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, N., Simeone, R. S., Ensel, W. M., and Kuo, W. (1979). Social support, stressful life events, and illness: A model and empirical test.J. Health Soc. Behav. 20: 108–119.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lowenthal, M. F. (1964). Social isolation and mental illness in old age.Am. Sociol. Rev. 29: 54–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowenthal, M. F., and Haven, C. (1968). Interaction and adaptation: Intimacy as a critical variable.Am. Sociol. Rev. 33: 20–29.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Meltzer, J., and Hochstim, J. (1970). Reliability and validity of survey data on physical health.Publ. Health Rep. 85: 1075–1086.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, P., McC., and Ingham, J. G. (1976). Friends, confidants and symptoms.Soc. Psychiat. 11: 51–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, J. C. (1969).Social Networks in Urban Situations, Manchester University Press, Manchester, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nuckolls, K. B., Cassel, J., and Kaplan, B. H. (1972). Psychosocial assets, life crisis, and the prognosis of pregnancy.Am. J. Epidemiol. 95: 431–441.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ortmeyer, C. F. (1974). Variations in mortality, morbidity, and health care by marital status. In Erhardt, C. L., and Berlin, J. E. (eds.),Mortality and Morbidity in the United States, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, T. (1951).The Social System, The Free Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, T. (1972). Definitions of health and illness in the light of American values and social structure. In Jaco, E. G. (ed.),Patients, Physicians and Illness, 2nd ed., The Free Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabkin, J. G., and Struening, E. L. (1976). Life events, stress, and illness.Science 194: 1013–1020.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rickels, K., Lipman, R. S., Garcia, C. R., and Fisher, E. (1972). Evaluating clinical improvement in anxious outpatients: A comparison of normal and treated neurotic patients.Am. J. Psychiat. 128: 119–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Satariano, W. A., and Syme, S. L. (1980). Life changes and diseases in elderly populations: Coping with change. In McGaugh, J., Kiesler, S., and Marsh, J. G. (eds.),Biology, Behavior, and Aging, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Syme, S. L. (1981). Sociocultural factors and disease etiology. In Gentry, W. D. (ed.),The Handbook of Behavioral Medicine, Guilford, New York (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhlenhuth, E. H., Lipman, R. S., Balter, M. B., and Stern, M. (1974). Symptom intensity and life stress in the city.Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 31: 759–764.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn, C. E., and Leff, J. P. (1976). The influence of family and social factors in the course of psychiatric illness.Br. J. Psychiat. 129: 125–137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, R. S. (1968). Materials for a theory of social relationships. In Bennis, W. G., Schein, E. H., Steele, F. I., and Berlew, D. E. (eds.),Interpersonal Dynamics: Essays and Readings on Human Interactions, 2nd ed., Dorsey, Homewood, Ill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, R. S. (1974). The provisions of social relationships. In Rubin, Z. (ed.),Doing Unto Others, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, W. (1967). Correlates of avowed happiness.Psychol. Bull. 67: 294–306.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wingard, D. G. (1980). The sex differential in mortality rates: Biological and social factors. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Writing of this paper was supported in part by National Institute on Aging Research Grant AG 00799 and Public Health Service Training Grant MH 13561.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schaefer, C., Coyne, J.C. & Lazarus, R.S. The health-related functions of social support. J Behav Med 4, 381–406 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00846149

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00846149

Key words

Navigation