Social support and health: A meta-analysis

Abstract

In the last decade a great deal of research has been devoted to the question whether social support has a favorable impact on the maintenance of physical health and on coping with illness. It is claimed that social support can either generally prevent negative health consequences or can serve as a buffer in specific stress situations. The literature, however, yields inconsistent findings. We have compiled 55 studies on this topic including a total sample size of N=32,739 subjects. Forty one of the studies were published after 1981. A total of 83 effect sizes (correlations), based on independent samples, were identified. The correlations between social support and poor health (including mortality) ranged from r=-0.60 to +0.23. The meta-analysis focussed on several data subsets generated by potential moderators such as gender, kind of support, and specific health variables.

Key Words:

• social support
• gender difference
• meta-analysis
• effect size