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The thesis of this review is that the global concept of social support should be abandoned in favor of more precise concepts that fit narrower models of stress-distress relationships. Distinctions between measures of social embeddedness, perceived support, and enacted support are consistent with studies that find they are related only mildly. Literature is reviewed to determine which social support concepts show positive or negative relationships to life stress and distress. Six models are presented to illustrate important findings and to demonstrate how specific support concepts may fit unique models. The issue of confounds and future research directions are also discussed.

Important advances have been made in social support research since the appearance of seminal works by Caplan (1974, 1976), Cassel (1976), and Cobb (1976). Literature reviews have already surveyed an impressive accumulation of studies …