Problems and prospects for the social support-reactivity hypothesis

Social support and integration have been linked to health and longevity in many correlational studies. To explain how social relationships might enhan ce health, investigators are examining the effects of social support on phy siological processes implicated in disease. Much of this research focuses o n testing the social support-reactivity hypothesis, which maintains that so cial support enhances health by reducing psychobiologic reactivity to stres sors. This article identifies the basic assumptions, problems, and prospect s of this research endeavor The major problems discussed include: (a) incon sistent findings across studies; (b) unidentified cognitive and emotional m ediators; (c) individual differences in response to social support and (d) a lack of experimental studies on the role of social support in adjustment to chronic stress. Besides raising consciousness about these problems, I of fer ideas for advancing research in this area.