Social support and social adjustment: Implications for mental health professionals (Reprinted from Community Mental Health Journal, vol 15, 1979)

The general importance of an individual's support network has been recogniz ed in the field of community mental health; yet a more detailed understandi ng of how a client's available social ties may contribute to his or her adj ustment is presently lacking. This study used network analysis to examine d ifferences in the social networks of mental health clients to identify fact ors associated with positive social adjustment. Subjects were selected from three different types of mental health programs as well as from the genera l population of Marion County, Oregon. Results generally revealed that subj ects from the community sample more often would look to immediate family me mbers for support. Better functioning chronic clients emphasized profession al contacts, whereas more poorly adjusted chronic clients would look to fri ends for support. The results have implications both for understanding the nature of the support available to a client and mobilizing the support reso urces of the existing network of relationships to aid adjustment to communi ty living.