Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
1995-1-3
pubmed:abstractText
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 crucial resource. This paper presents data on the distribution of social support and support resources across social class, marital status, age and gender, with the aims of contributing toward an understanding of the impact of social structures on processes of social support, and of assessing the hypothesis that epidemiological variations in mental health arise partially from social support differences. The epidemiology of perceived social support was found to correspond closely to the epidemiology of psychological distress and disorder. The single exception involved gender, where a positive rather than negative relationship was observed, with women demonstrating the highest levels of both social support and psychological distress. The observed patterns of variation in social support link this significant adaptive resource to one's locations in the social structure and reinforce the conclusion that it represents a promising intervention target. The practical importance of these results, however, are not matched by theoretical significance. Except in the case of marital status, our findings largely discount the hypothesis that the social distribution of mental health is partially attributable to social support differences.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Sep
pubmed:issn
0022-1465
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
35
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
193-212
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-11-11
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1994
pubmed:articleTitle
Social support and social structure: a descriptive epidemiology.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Ontario.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't