RECEIVED AND PERCEIVED SOCIAL SUPPORT IN TIMES OF STRESS - A TEST OF THE SOCIAL SUPPORT DETERIORATION DETERRENCE MODEL

The authors evaluated the impact of receiving social support on subseq uent levels of perceived social support and psychological distress in 2 independent samples of victims of severe natural disasters: Hurrican e Hugo (n = 498) and Hurricane Andrew (n = 404). A social support dete rioration deterrence model was proposed that stipulated that postdisas ter mobilization of received support counteracts the deterioration in expectations of support often experienced by victims of major life eve nts. LISREL analyses of data collected 12 and 24 months after Hugo and 6 and 28 months after Andrew provided strong evidence for the hypothe sized model: Perceived support mediated the long-term effects on distr ess of both scope of disaster exposure and postdisaster received suppo rt. Theoretical and application issues of social support are discussed .