Irwin G. Sarason

A measure of social support, the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ), is described and four empirical studies employing it are described. The SSQ yields scores for (a) number of social supports, and (b) satisfaction with social support that is available. Three of the studies deal with the SSQ's psychometric properties, its correations with measures of personality and adjustment, and the relationship of the SSQ to positive and negative life changes. The fourth study was an experimental investigation of the relationship between social support and persistence in working on a complex, frustrating task. The research reported suggests that the SSQ is a reliable instrument, and that social support is (1) more strongly related to positive than negative life changes, (2) more related in a negative direction to psychological discomfort among women than men, and (3) an asset in enabling a person to persist at a task under frustrating conditions. Research and clinical implications are discussed. (Author)

DEFINING AND ASSESSING SOCIAL SUPPORT: Traditional Views of Social Support and Their Impact on Assessment Social Support in Young Children: Measurement, Structure and Bahavioral Impact SOCIAL SUPPORT IN THE CONTEXT OF PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS Social Support: The Sense of Acceptance and the Role of Relationships From Self to Health: Self-Verification and Identity Disruption Social Relationships as a Source of Companionship: Implications for Older Adults' Psychological Well-Being SOCIAL SUPPORT AND STRESS COPING: Social Support, Stress and the Immune System Differentiating the Cognitive and Behavioral Aspects of Social Support SOCIAL SUPPORT APPLICATIONS AND INTERVENTIONS IN CLINICAL AND COMMUNITY SETTINGS: The Role of Coping in Support Provision: The Self- Presentational Dilemma of Victims of Life Crises Social Support During Extreme Stress: Consequences and Intervention.

This article describes the development of a new instrument, the Life Experiences Survey, for the measurement of life changes. It was designed to eliminate certain shortcomings of previous life stress measures and allows for separate assessment of positive and negative life experiences as well as individualize d ratings of the impact of events. Several studies bearing on the usefulness of the Life Experiences Survey are presented, and the implications of the findings are discussed. During recent years, numerous studies have investigated the relationship between life stress and susceptibility to physical and psychological problems. Most of these studies have been based on the assumptions that (a) life changes require adaptation on the part of the individual and are stressful, and (b) persons experiencing marked degrees of life change during the recent past are susceptible to physical and psychiatric problems. There is considerable evidence that a relationship exists between life stress, operationally defined in terms of self-reported life changes, and physical illness (Dohrenwcnd & Dohrenwend, 1974b). Rahe and Lind (1971) have reported a relationship between life stress and sudden cardiac death. Theorcll and Rahe (1971) and Edwards (1971) have provided data suggestive of a link between life stress and myocardial infarction. Holmes (1970) and Rahe (1968) both found a relationship between life stress and major and minor health