Social support protects individuals against adversity throughout the lifespan, and is especially salient during times of intense social change, such as during the transition to adulthood. Focusing on ...three relationship-specific sources of social support (family, friends, and romantic partners), the current study examined the stress-buffering function of social support against loneliness and whether the association between social support and loneliness with stress held constant would vary by its source. The role of gender in these associations was also considered. The sample consisted of 636 ethnically diverse college youth (age range 18–25; 80 % female). The results suggest that the stress-buffering role of social support against loneliness varies by its source. Only support from friends buffered the association between stress and loneliness. Further, when stress was held constant, the association between social support and loneliness differed by the sources, in that support from friends or romantic partners (but not from family) was negatively associated with loneliness. Regarding gender differences, the adverse impact of lower levels of familial or friends’ support on loneliness was greater in females than in males. This research advances our understanding of social support among college-aged youth; implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.
This study aimed to examine how sources of social support intersect with stress and health by testing two theoretical models. Three relationship‐specific sources of social support (family, friends, ...and romantic partners) and two health indicators (self‐rated physical health and depressive symptoms) were investigated. The sample consisted of 636 emerging adults attending college (age range: 18–25). Results suggest that only support from family was a stress‐buffer, in that it buffered the adverse association between stress and depressive symptoms. Holding stress constant, only support from family was related to self‐rated physical health and only support from friends or romantic partners was associated with depressive symptoms. There were no gender differences in the mean levels of self‐rated physical health and depressive symptoms. However, gender moderations were found, in that the positive relationship between friends support and physical health was observed only in women, that the association between friends support and depressive symptoms was greater in men than in women, and that family support buffered the negative relationship between stress and physical health only in men. Findings of this study suggest that the associations among stress, social support, and health vary by the sources of support, the health outcome, and gender.
The present study explores concurrent relations between social support, gender, susceptibility to peer influence, and peer‐based aggression and harassment in a socioeconomically and racially diverse ...sample of 774 seventh and eighth grade students. Results indicate that students perceiving lower support from their family or school were relatively more likely to be highly susceptible to peer influence, and to have friends who they believed were also highly susceptible to peer influence. Further, higher susceptibility to peer influence was associated with increased involvement in relational aggression and sexual harassment, both as a perpetrator and as a victim. Gender moderation effects were also found. The negative association of school support and susceptibility to peer influence was found greater in girls than boys. Girls who were highly susceptible to peer influence, or who had friends who were highly susceptible, had a relatively greater risk for involvement in relational aggression and sexual harassment, as compared with boys. Implications of these results for educators and school‐based mental health professionals are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.
Objectives: We explored the role of particular sources of social support (friends, romantic partners, family) as moderators and mediators in the associations between perceived stress and individual ...well-being (loneliness, depressive symptoms, and self-rated physical health). We also tested the possible moderating effect of gender to ascertain whether women and men are differentially impacted by social support's diverse sources. Method: Participants were 163 Latina/o emerging adults attending college (85% women; Mage = 20.2 years, range: 18-25). Results: Holding perceived stress constant, friend support was negatively associated with loneliness, romantic partner support was negatively related to depressive symptoms, and family support was positively associated with self-rated physical health. Friend or romantic partner support moderated the relationships between perceived stress and loneliness, and self-rated physical health, but not depressive symptoms. Perceived stress and loneliness were indirectly and positively associated through lower friends and romantic partner supports, perceived stress and depressive symptoms were indirectly and positively related through lower romantic partner support, and perceived stress and self-rated physical health were related indirectly and negatively through lower family support. Gender moderated the relationships between family and friend support and self-rated physical health, and between friend support and depressive symptoms. Particular sources of support mediated the associations of perceived stress with well-being. Conclusions: Results highlight how social support helps Latina/o youth cope with stress and mitigate challenges associated with their college transition. Social support implications for physical and psychological health differ for male and female Latina/o college-attending emerging adults.
This study examined the roles of relationship-specific social support and gender in the associations between perceived stress and well-being. Three sources of support (family, friends, and romantic ...partners) and three well-being indicators (loneliness, depressive symptoms, and physical health) were assessed in 628 young adults attending college (
M
age
= 19.72; range of 18–24). Stress directly predicted all well-being indicators, and indirectly predicted well-being through social support in relationship-specific ways. Family support mediated the relationship between stress and physical health, friend support mediated the association between stress and loneliness, and romantic partner support mediated the relationships of stress with both loneliness and depressive symptoms. With regard to loneliness and physical health, women were more strongly impacted when they had less support from friends.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect reflective coping, suppressive coping, and reactive coping had on stress and indicators of well-being among Hispanic undergraduate students (N = ...177) from a Hispanic Serving Institution. Findings demonstrate that both reactive and suppressive coping had separate but important moderating effects on perceived stress and well-being outcomes. Perceived stress was also associated with both depressive symptoms and life satisfaction indirectly through copying styles.
This study examined the relationships among financial stress encountered by families, parents' social support, parental depressive symptoms, parenting practices, and children's externalizing problem ...behaviors to advance our understanding of the processes by which family financial stress is associated with children's problem behaviors. We also tested moderated mediation to investigate if these relationships differed depending on children's characteristics. The data were drawn from 290 predominantly rural families with young children who were identified as at risk for the development of serious conduct problems. Using structural equation modeling, we found that the relationship between family income and children's externalizing problem behaviors was mediated by parents' social support, parental depressive symptoms, and parenting practices. The results also showed that the children's levels of aggression severity, academic functioning, and developmental strengths moderated the mediating relationships between family income and parental depressive symptoms and between family income and positive parenting.
In this study, we aimed to extend research on the theory of intergenerational solidarity by examining the associations between solidarity dimensions and individual adjustment among an ethnically ...diverse sample of college-attending emerging adults (age range: 18-25 years; N = 600). We proposed a multiple mediator model, hypothesizing that normative solidarity (familism) would be associated with individual adjustment, particularly academic satisfaction, psychological distress, and loneliness, directly and indirectly through associational solidarity, affectual solidarity, and functional solidarity. Analysis results showed that familism was directly and positively related to depressive symptoms. Indirect effects based on bootstrapping also were found in that affectual solidarity mediated the association between familism and loneliness, and functional solidarity mediated the relationships between familism and each of the three adjustment criterion variables examined in this study. Findings lend support to the importance of family influence, through intergenerational solidarity, on the well-being of emerging adults attending college.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of shame associated with previous potentially traumatic experiences, satisfaction with academic performance, and psychological distress among ...college students (N = 245) in Mainland China. Results indicated that previous experiences of potentially traumatic events were directly related to depressive symptoms and indirectly related through characterological shame and hopelessness. In addition, characterological shame and bodily shame were 2 distinct forms of shame that had unique associations with psychological distress.
In a large, ethnically diverse sample of college-attending emerging adults (N = 693; ages 18–29), the current study examines associations between self-efficacy and individual adjustment (academic ...satisfaction, depressive symptoms, subjective physical health, and loneliness), directly and indirectly through perceived stress. Moderated mediation effects by sex, ethnicity, school year, and first-generation status were also explored. Using PROCESS, results show that self-efficacy was directly related to adjustment, and indirectly related through lower stress. Sex moderated the associations between self-efficacy and stress as well as stress and depressive symptoms; the relations were stronger in women. School year moderated how stress was associated with academic satisfaction in that the negative association was not found among the fourth-year students, but in all other peers. First-generation status moderated the negative association of self-efficacy and stress, with it being greater for first-generation college students compared to their peers. In addition, self-efficacy was positively related to academic satisfaction for first-generation students, but no relation was found for other students.
