A recently burgeoning body of research suggests that social ties increase people's immunity
to physical illnesses. Study findings form a conceptual foundation for an emerging social …

Previous research has yielded inconsistent results regarding the mediating effects of social
support upon psychiatric illness. Using data (N= 2029) gathered as part of a major …

STUDY OBJECTIVE--The aims were:(1) to identify methodological problems that may
explain the inconsistencies and contradictions in the research evidence on social support …

Reviews the literature on social support (SS) and physical health (PH), focusing on studies
of illness onset; stress; utilization of health services; adherence to medical regimens; and …

In the 1970s a considerable amount was written about the help and assistance people
receive from informal support systems such as family, friends, and neighbors. Many scholars …

Much of the pioneering research on the stress-buffering effects of social support tended to
view support primarily in terms of its perceived availability in the environment. Individual …

Despite a very large and growing literature demonstrating the significance of social support
for health and well-being, surprisingly little is known about the social distribution of this …

The chapter deals with social factors and how they might exert an influence on health and
longevity. First, a distinction is made between the concepts of social integration and social …

Social support is a concept that, because of its pervasive role in human affairs, needs
operationalization and assessment. One of the primary confusions about social support is …