AVAILABLE SUPPORT AND RECEIVED SUPPORT - DIFFERENT EFFECTS UNDER STRESSFUL CIRCUMSTANCES

Knowledge about how social support operates under specific circumstanc es lags behind the amount of research on the relationship between soci al support and well-being. Therefore, the purpose of our research was to study the mechanisms through which social support influences psycho logical wellbeing under stressful circumstances. We distinguished betw een perceived available support and received support in evaluating a h ypothetical model specifying the direct and indirect effects of suppor t on depression of recently diagnosed breast cancer patients. Results from structural equation modeling show that available support has dire ct beneficial effects on depression and received support has indirect effects (via appraisal and coping). Moreover, dependent on the type of support and coping strategy in the analyses, other effects of availab le and received support were found.