Psychological pathways linking social support to health outcomes: A visit with the "ghosts" of research past, present, and future

Social Science and Medicine

Volumn 74, Issue 7, 2012, Pages 949-957

  Uchino, Bert N ^a   Bowen, Kimberly ^a   Carlisle, McKenzie ^a   Birmingham, Wendy ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF UTAH   (United States)

Author keywords

Physiology; Psychological mechanisms; Review; Social support

Indexed keywords

HEALTH CARE; PHYSIOLOGY; PSYCHOLOGY; RESEARCH; STATISTICAL ANALYSIS;

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK; DEPRESSION; MEDICAL RESEARCH; MENTAL HEALTH; MENTAL HEALTH CARE; MENTAL STRESS; OUTCOME ASSESSMENT; PUBLICATION; REVIEW; SOCIAL SUPPORT; STATISTICAL ANALYSIS; STUDY DESIGN; THEORETICAL MODEL;

ADAPTATION, PSYCHOLOGICAL; DEPRESSION; HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH; HEALTH STATUS; HUMANS; RESEARCH DESIGN; SELF CONCEPT; SELF EFFICACY; SOCIAL SUPPORT; STRESS, PSYCHOLOGICAL;

EID: 84857916842     PISSN: 02779536     EISSN: 18735347     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.023     Document Type: Review

References (95)

1. Ahadi S., Diener E. Multiple determinants and effect size. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1989, 56:398-406. 10.1037/0022-3514.56.3.398.
2. Atienza A.A., Collins R., King A.C. The mediating effects of situational control on social support and mood following a stressor: a prospective study of dementia caregivers in their natural environment. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 2001, 56B:S129-S139. 10.1093/geronb/56.3.S129.
3. Baldwin M.W. Relational schemas and the processing of social information. Psychological Bulletin 1992, 112(3):461-484. 10.1037/0033-2909.112.3.461.
4. Baron R.S., Cutrona C.E., Hicklin D., Russell D.W., Lubaroff D.M. Social support and immune function among spouses of cancer patients. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1990, 59:344-352. 10.1037/0022-3514.59.2.344.
5. Baron R.M., Kenny D.A. The moderator-mediator distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1986, 51:1173-1182. 10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173.
6. Barrera M. Social support research in community psychology. Handbook of community psychology 2000, 215-245. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, N. Y. J. Rappaport, E. Seidman (Eds.).
7. Barth J., Schneider S., von Kanel R. Lack of social support in the etiology and prognosis of coronary heart disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychosomatic Medicine 2010, 72:229-238. 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181d01611.
8. Berkman L.F., Glass T., Brissette I., Seeman T.E. From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science and Medicine 2000, 51:843-857. 10.1016/S0277-9536(00)00065-4.
9. Berkman L.F., Leo-Summers L., Horwitz R.I. Emotional support and survival after myorcardial infarction: a prospective, population-based study of the elderly. Annals of Internal Medicine 1992, 117:1003-1009.
10. Berntson G.G., Cacioppo J.T. Psychobiology and social psychology: past, present, and future. Personality and Social Psychology Review 2000, 4:3-15. 10.1207/S15327957PSPR0401_2.
11. Berscheid E. The greening of relationship science. American Psychologist 1999, 54:260-266. 10.1037/0003-066X.54.4.260.
12. Bolger N., Amarel D. Effects of social support visibility on adjustment to stress: experimental evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2007, 92(3):458-475. 10.1037/0022-3514.92.3.458.
13. Bolger N., Eckenrode J. Social relationships, personality, and anxiety during a major stressful event. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1991, 61:440-449. 10.1037/0022-3514.61.3.440.
14. Cacioppo J.T., Berntson G.G. Social psychological contributions to the decade of the brain: doctrine of multilevel analysis. American Psychologist 1992, 47:1019-1028. 10.1037/0003-066X.47.8.1019.
15. Cacioppo J.T., Petty R.E. Social processes. Psychophysiology: Systems, processes, and application 1986, 646-679. Guilford, New York. M. Coles, E. Donchin, S. Porges (Eds.).
16. Chida Y., Steptoe A. Greater cardiovascular responses to laboratory mental stress are associated with poor subsequent cardiovascular risk status: a meta-analysis of prospective evidence. Hypertension 2010, 55:1026-1032. 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.109.146621.
17. Clark R. Self-reported racism and social support predict blood pressure reactivity in Blacks. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 2003, 25:127-136. 10.1207/S15324796ABM2502_09.
18. Coan J.A., Schaefer H.S., Davidson R.J. Lending a hand: social regulation of the neural response to threat. Psychological Science 2006, 17:1032-1039. 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01832.x.
19. Cohen S. Psychosocial models of the role of social support in the etiology of physical disease. Health Psychology 1988, 7:269-297.
20. Cohen S. Social relationships and health. American Psychologist 2004, 59:676-684. 10.1037/0003-066X.59.8.676.
21. Cohen S., Wills T.A. Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin 1985, 98:310-357. 10.1037/0278-6133.7.3.269.
22. Cosley B.J., McCoy S.K., Saslow L.R., Epel E.S. Is compassion for others stress buffering? Consequences of compassion and social support for physiological reactivity to stress. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2010, 46:816-823. 10.1016/j.jesp.2010.04.0080.
23. Davidson D.M., Shumaker S.A. Social support and cardiovascular disease. Arteriosclerosis 1987, 7:101-104.
24. Denson T.F., Spanovic M., Miller N. Cognitive appraisals and emotions predict cortisol and immune responses: a meta-analysis of acute laboratory social stressors and emotion inductions. Psychological Bulletin 2009, 135:823-853. 10.1037/a0016909.
25. Dickerson S.S., Kemeny M.E. Acute stressors and cortisol responses: a theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychological Bulletin 2004, 130:355-391. 10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.355.
26. Dunkel-Schetter C., Bennett T.L. Differentiating the cognitive and behavioral aspects of social support. Social support: An interactional view 1990, 267-296. John Wiley and Sons, N. Y. B.R. Sarason, I.G. Sarason, G.R. Pierce (Eds.).
27. Dunkel-Schetter C., Folkman S., Lazarus R.S. Correlates of social support receipt. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1987, 53:71-80. 10.1037/0022-3514.53.1.71.
28. Eisenberger N.I., Gable S.L., Lieberman M.D. Functional magnetic resonance imaging responses relate to differences in real-world social experience. Emotion 2007, 7:745-754. 10.1037/1528-3542.7.4.745.
29. Eisenberger N.I., Taylor S.E., Gable S.L., Hilmert C.J., Lieberman M.D. Neural pathways link social support to attenuated neuroendocrine stress responses. NeuroImage 2007, 35:1601-1612. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.01.038.
30. Ell K., Nishimoto R., Medianski L., Mantell J., Hamovitch M. Social relations, social support and survival among patients with cancer. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 1992, 36:531-541.
31. Evans G.W., Kim P. Multiple risk exposure as a potential explanatory mechanism for the socioeconomic status-health gradient. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2010, 1186:174-189. 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05336.x.
32. Gerin W., Pieper C., Levy R., Pickering T.G. Social support in social interaction: a moderator of cardiovascular reactivity. Psychosomatic Medicine 1992, 54:324-336.
33. Gianaros P.J., O'Connor M.F. Neuroimaging methods in human stress science. Handbook of stress science 2011, 543-563. Springer, New York. R. Contrada, A. Baum (Eds.).
34. Glynn L.M., Christenfeld N., Gerin W. Gender, social support, and cardiovascular responses to stress. Psychosomatic Medicine 1999, 61:234-242.
35. Gore S. Stress-buffering functions of social supports: an appraisal and clarification of research models. Stressful life events and their context 1981, 202-222. Prodist, N. Y. B. Dohrenwend, B. Dohrenwend (Eds.).
36. Gottlieb B. Social support and the study of personal relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 1985, 2:351-375. 10.1177/0265407585023007.
37. Granovetter M.S. The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology 1973, 78:1360-1380. 10.1086/225469.
38. Haber M.G., Cohen J.L., Lucas T., Baltes B.B. The relationship between self-reported received and perceived social support: a meta-analytic review. American Journal of Community Psychology 2007, 39:133-144. 10.1007/s10464-007-9100-9.
39. Hilmert C.J., Christenfeld N., Kulik J.A. Audience status moderates the effects of social support and self-efficacy on cardiovascular reactivity during public speaking. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 2002, 24:122-131.
40. Holt-Lunstad J., Smith T.B., Layton B. Social relationships and mortality: a meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine 2010, 7:e1000316. 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316.
41. Holt-Lunstad J., Uchino B.N., Smith T.W., Cerny C.B., Nealey-Moore J.B. Social relationships and ambulatory blood pressure: structural and qualitative predictors of cardiovascular function during everyday social interactions. Health Psychology 2003, 22:388-397. 10.1037/0278-6133.22.4.388.
42. House J.S., Landis K.R., Umberson D. Social relationships and health. Science 1988, 241:540-545. 10.1126/science.3399889.
43. Kamarck T.W., Schwartz J., Shiffman S., Muldoon M.F., Sutton-Tyrrell K., Janicki D. Psychosocial stress and cardiovascular risk: what is the role of daily experience?. Journal of Personality 2005, 73:1749-1774. 10.1111/j.0022-3506.2005.00365.x.
44. Kamarck T.W., Manuck S.B., Jennings J.R. Social support reduces cardiovascular reactivity to psychological challenge: a laboratory model. Psychosomatic Medicine 1990, 52:42-58.
45. Kiecolt-Glaser J.K., Dura J.R., Speicher C.E., Trask O.J., Glaser R.G. Spousal caregivers of dementia victims: longitudinal changes in immunity and health. Psychosomatic Medicine 1991, 53:345-362.
46. Kiecolt-Glaser J.K., McGuire L., Robles T.F., Glaser R. Emotions, morbidity, and mortality: new perspectives from psychoneuroimmunology. Annual Review of Psychology 2002, 53:83-107. 10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135217.
47. Kirschbaum C., Klauer T., Filipp S.H., Hellhammer D.H. Sex-specific effects of social support on cortisol and subjective responses to acute psychological stress. Psychosomatic Medicine 1995, 57:23-31.
48. Krantz D.S., Manuck S.B. Acute psychophysiological reactivity and risk of cardiovascular disease: a review and methodologic critique. Psychological Bulletin 1984, 96:435-464. 10.1037/0033-2909.96.3.435.
49. Krause N. Life stress, social support, and self-esteem in an elderly population. Psychology and Aging 1987, 2:349-356. 10.1037/0882-7974.2.4.349.
50. Lakey B., Orehek E. Relational regulation theory: a new approach to explain the link between perceived social support and mental health. Psychological Review 2011, 118:482-495. 10.1037/a0023477.
51. Lee S., Rogge R.D., Reis H.T. Assessing the seeds of relationship decay: using implicit evaluations to detect the early stages of disillusionment. Psychological Science 2010, 21:857-864. 10.1177/0956797610371342.
52. Lee M., Rotheram-Borus M.J. Challenges associated with increased survival among parents living with HIV. American Journal of Public Health 2001, 91:1303-1309. 10.2105/AJPH.91.8.1303.
53. Lee S.Y., Song X.Y. Evaluation of the Bayesian and maximum likelihood approaches in analyzing structural equation models with small sample sizes. Multivariate Behavioral Research 2004, 39:653-686.
54. Lehman A.J., Pratt D.D., DeLongis A., Collins J.B., Shojania K., Koehler R., et al. Do spouses know how much fatigue, pain, and physical limitation their partners with rheumatoid arthritis experience? Implications for social support. Arthritis Care and Research 2011, 63:120-127. 10.1002/acr.20330.
55. Lieberman M.D. Social cognitive neuroscience: a review of core processes. Annual Review of Psychology 2007, 58:259-289. 10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085654.
56. Lin N. Modeling the effects of social support. Social support, life events, and depression 1986, 173-209. Academic Press, Orlando, Fla. N. Lin, A. Dean, W. Ensel (Eds.).
57. Linden W., Chambers L., Maurice J., Lenz J.W. Sex differences in social support, self-deception, hostility, and ambulatory cardiovascular activity. Health Psychology 1993, 12:376-380. 10.1037/0278-6133.12.5.376.
58. Lutgendorf S.K., Anderson B., Sorosky J., Buller R., Lubaroff D. Interleukin-6 and use of social support in gynecologic cancer patients. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine 2000, 7:127-142. 10.1207/S15327558IJBM0702_3.
59. Lutgendorf S.K., Sood A.K., Anderson B., McGinn S., Maiseri H., Dao M., et al. Social support, psychological distress, and natural killer cell activity in ovarian cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2005, 23:7105-7113. 10.1200/JCO.2005.10.015.
60. MacKay C.J. The measurement of mood and psychophysiological activity using self-report techniques. Techniques in psychophysiology 1980, 501-564. Wiley, Chichester. I. Martin, P. Venebles (Eds.).
61. MacKinnon D.P. Introduction to statistical mediational analyses 2008, Erlbaum, New York.
62. Maisel N., Gable S.L. The paradox of received social support: the importance of responsiveness. Psychological Science 2009, 20:928-932. 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02388.x.
63. Marsland A.L., Sathanoori R., Muldoon M.F., Manuck S.B. Stimulated production of interleukin-8 covaries with psychosocial risk factors for inflammatory disease among middle-aged community volunteers. Brain, Behavior and Immunity 2007, 21:218-228. 10.1016/j.bbi.2006.07.006.
64. Miller G.E. In search of integrated specificity: comment on Denson, Spanovic, and Miller (2009). Psychological Bulletin 2009, 135:854-856. 10.1037/a0017440.
65. Ogilvie D.M., Ashmore R.D. Self-with-other representation as a unit of analysis in self-concept research. The relational self: Theoretical convergences in psychoanalysis and social psychology 1991, 282-314. Guilford Press, New York. R.C. Curtis (Ed.).
66. Orth-Gomér K., Rosengren A., Wilhelmsen L. Lack of social support and incidence of coronary heart disease in middle-aged Swedish men. Psychosomatic Medicine 1993, 55:37-43.
67. Pinquart M., Duberstein P.R. Associations of social networks with cancer mortality: a meta-analysis. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology 2010, 75:122-137. 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2009.06.003.
68. Preacher K.J., Hayes A.F. SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simply mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers 2004, 36:717-731. 10.3758/BF03206553.
69. Reis H.T. Steps toward the ripening of relationship science. Personal Relationships 2007, 14:1-23. 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2006.00139.x.
70. Reis H.T., Clark M.S., Holmes J.G. Perceived partner responsiveness as an organizing construct in the study of intimacy and closeness. The handbook of closeness and intimacy 2004, 201-225. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ. D. Mashek, A. Aron (Eds.).
71. Reis H.T., Collins W.A., Berscheid E. The relationship context of human behavior and development. Psychological Bulletin 2000, 126:844-872. 10.1037/0033-2909.126.6.844.
72. Rusbult C.E., Van Lange P.A.M. Why we need interdependence theory. Social and Personality Psychology Compass 2008, 2:2049-2070. 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00147.x.
73. Russell D.W., Cutrona C.E. Social support, stress, and depressive symptoms among the elderly: test of a process model. Psychology and Aging 1991, 6:190-201. 10.1037/0882-7974.6.2.190.
74. Sarason B.R., Sarason I.G., Pierce G.R. Social support: An interactional view 1990, John Wiley and Sons, N. Y.
75. Shaw B.A., Krause N., Chatters L.M., Connell C.M., Ingersoll-Dayton B. Emotional support from parents early in life, aging, and health. Psychology and Aging 2004, 19(1):4-12. 10.1037/0882-7974.19.1.4.
76. Skelton J.A., Pennebaker J.W. The verbal response system. Handbook of psychophysiology: Physical, social, and inferential elements 1990, 631-657. Cambridge University Press, New York. J. Cacioppo, L. Tassinary, R. Petty (Eds.).
77. Smith T.W., Ruiz J.M., Uchino B.N. Mental activation of supportive ties, hostility, and cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stress in young men and women. Health Psychology 2004, 23:476-485. 10.1037/0278-6133.23.5.476.
78. Spitzer S.B., Llabre M.M., Ironson G.H., Gellman M.D., Schneiderman N. The influence of social situations on ambulatory blood pressure. Psychosomatic Medicine 1992, 54:79-86.
79. Stone A.A., Mezzacappa E.S., Donatone B.A., Gonder M. Psychosocial stress and social support are associated with prostate-specific antigen levels in men: results from a community screening program. Health Psychology 1999, 18:482-486. 10.1037/0278-6133.18.5.482.
80. Symister P., Friend R. The influence of social support and problematic support on optimism and depression in chronic illness: a prospective study evaluating self-esteem as a mediator. Health Psychology 2003, 22(2):123-129. 10.1037/0278-6133.22.2.123.
81. Taylor S.E., Seeman T.E., Eisenberger N.I., Kozanian T.A., Moore A.N., Moons W.G. Effects of a supportive or an unsupportive audience on biological and psychological responses to stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2010, 98:47-56. 10.1037/a0016563.
82. Thoits P.A. Multiple identities and psychological well-being: a reformulation and test of the social isolation hypothesis. American Sociological Review 1983, 48:174-187.
83. Thoits P. Mechanisms linking social ties and support to physical and mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 2011, 52:145-161. 10.1177/0022146510395592.
84. Thomas P.D., Goodwin J.M., Goodwin J.S. Effects of social support on stress-related changes in cholesterol level, uric acid level, and immune function in an elderly sample. American Journal of Psychiatry 1985, 142:735-737.
85. Thorsteinsson E.B., James J.E. A meta-analysis of the effects of experimental manipulations of social support during laboratory stress. Psychology and Health 1999, 14:869-886. 10.1080/08870449908407353.
86. Trobst K.K. An interpersonal conceptualization and quantification of social support transactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2000, 26:971-986. 10.1177/01461672002610007.
87. Uchino B.N. Social support and physical health: Understanding the health consequences of relationships 2004, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
88. Uchino B.N. Understanding the links between social support and physical health: a lifespan perspective with emphasis on the separability of perceived and received support. Perspectives in Psychological Science 2009, 4:236-255. 10.1177/0265407509105521.
89. Uchino B.N., Carlisle M.C., Birmingham W., Vaughn A.A. Social support and the reactivity hypothesis: conceptual issues in examining the efficacy of received support during acute psychological stress. Biological Psychology 2011, 86:137-142. 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.04.003.
90. Uchino B.N., Garvey T.G. The availability of social support reduces cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress. Journal of Behavioral Medicine 1997, 20:15-27. 10.1023/A:1025583012283.
91. Uchino B.N., Holt-Lunstad J., Uno D., Betancourt R. Social support and age-related differences in cardiovascular function: an examination of potential mediators. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 1999, 21:135-142. 10.1007/BF02908294.
92. Uchino B.N., Kiecolt-Glaser J.K., Cacioppo J.T. Age-related changes in cardiovascular response as a function of a chronic stressor and social support. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1992, 63:839-846. 10.1037/0022-3514.63.5.839.
93. Unden A.-L., Orth-Gomer K., Elofsson S. Cardiovascular effects of social support in the work place: twenty-four hour ECG monitoring of men and women. Psychosomatic Medicine 1991, 53:50-60.
94. Wager T.D., van Ast V., Hughes B., Davidson M.L., Lindquist M.A., Ochsner K.N. Brain mediators of cardiovascular responses to social threat, part II: prefrontal-subcortical pathways and relationship with anxiety. Neuroimage 2009, 47:836-851. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.05.044.
95. Wager T.D., Waugh C., Lindquist M., Noll D.C., Fredrickson B.L., Taylor S.E. Brain mediators of cardiovascular responses to social threat, part I: reciprocal dorsal and ventral sub-regions of the medial prefrontal cortex and heart-rate reactivity. Neuroimage 2009, 47:821-835. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.05.043.