SOCIAL SUPPORT AND WELL-BEING AMONG LESBIAN AND HETEROSEXUAL WOMEN - A STRUCTURAL MODELING APPROACH

The authors examined the types of social support that lesbian and hete rosexual women receive from their social networks and the link between support and psychological well-being. Participants were White, middle -class, single and coupled women. Using Robert Weiss's typology of soc ial provisions, the authors found that lesbian and heterosexual women reported receiving equivalent overall amounts of support from their so cial networks. Relationship status was related to well-being coupled w omen reported greater well-being than did single women. Using structur al equation modeling, the authors found a strong association between s ocial support and psychological well-being for all women. Beyond this general association, lesbian women's well-being was also associated wi th reassurance-of-worth support, whereas heterosexual women's well-bei ng was linked with guidance support. These results support the usefuln ess of latent variable models for examining social support and demonst rate that lesbians, like their heterosexual counterparts, benefit from supportive networks.