Abstract
Investigated the effects of a 13-week preventive, psychoeducational intervention program to improve perceived social support. Fifty-one, low-perceived support, community residents were randomly assigned to an intervention or wait-list control condition. Intervention subjects received training in social skills and cognitive reframing regarding the self and social relations. The intervention led to increased perceived social support from family, but not from friends. As hypothesized by social cognition models, increases in perceived support appeared to be mediated by changes in self-esteem and frequency of self-reinforcement. Further, such changes in cognition about the self were larger than the changes observed for perceived support, suggesting that it may be easier to change cognition about the self than perceptions of support.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Abbey, A., Andrews, F. M., & Halman, L. J. (1995). The provision and receipt of social support and disregard: What is their impact on the marital life quality of infertile and fertile couples?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 455–469.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual strategies and statistical considerations.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.
Barrera, M. (1986). Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and models.American Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 413–445.
Barth, R. P., & Schinke, S. P. (1984) Enhancing the social supports of teenage mothers.Social Casework, 65, 523–531.
Baumgarten, M., Thomas, D., de Courval, L. P., & Infante-Rivard, C. (1988). Evaluation of a mutual help network for the elderly residents of planned housing.Psychology and Aging, 31, 393–398.
Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979).Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford.
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Garbin, M. G. (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck depression inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation.Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 77–100.
Belcher, G., & Costello, C. G. (1991). Do confidants of depressed women provide less social support then confidentas of nondepressed women?Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 516–525.
Bloom, B. L., Hodges, W. F., & Caldwell, R. A. (1982). A preventive program for the newly separated: Initial evaluation.American Journal of Community Psychology, 10, 251–264.
Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. (1978).Social origins of depression, New York: Free Press.
Cohen, S., Sherrod, D. R., & Clark, M. S. (1986). Social skills and the stress-protective role of social support.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 963–973.
Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support and the buffering hypothesis.Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310–357.
Cutrona, C. E. (1988). Ratings of social support by adolescents and adult informants: Degree of correspondence and prediction of depressive symptoms.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 723–730.
Cutrona, C. E., & Russell, D. W. (1990). Type of social support and specific stress: Toward a theory of optimal matching. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.),Social support: An interactional view. New York: Wiley.
Cutrona, C. E., Suhr, J. A., & MacFarlane, R. (1990). Interpersonal transactions and the psychological sense of support. In S. Duck with R. C. Silver (Eds.),Personal relationships and social support (pp. 30–45), London: Sage.
Dadds, M. A., & McHugh, T. A. (1992). Social support and treatment outcome in behavioral family therapy for child conduct problems.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 252–259.
Dunkel-Schetter, C., & Bennett, T. L. (1990). Differentiating the cognitive and behavioral aspects of social support. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.),Social support: An interactional view. New York: Wiley.
Gurung, A. R., Sarason, B. R., & Sarason, I. G. (1994).Observing conflict and support: global vs. behavioral-specific approaches. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles.
Hastie, R., & Park, B. (1986). The relationship between memory and judgment depends on whether the judgment task is memory-based or on-line.Psychological Review, 93, 258–268.
Heiby, E. M. (1983). Assessment of frequency of self-reinforcement.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 1304–1307.
Heller, K., & Lakey, B. (1985). Perceived support and social interaction among friends and confidants. In I. G. Sarason & B. R. Sarason (Eds.),Social support: Theory. research and applications (pp 287–300). The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Heller, K., Price, R. H., & Hogg, J. (1990). The role of social support in community and clinical intervention. In I. G. Sarason, B. R. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.),Social Support: An interactional view (pp. 482–507), New York: Wiley.
Heller, K., Thompson, M. G., Trueba, P. E., Hogg, J. R., & Vlachos-Weber, I. (1991). Peer support telephone dyads for elderly women: Was this the wrong intervention?American Journal of Community Psychology, 19, 53–74.
Heller, K., Swindle, R.W., Jr., & Dusenbury, L. (1986). Component social support processes: Comments and integration.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 466–470.
Higgins, E. T., King, G. A., & Mavin, G. H. (1982). Individual construct accessibility and subjective impressions and recall.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 35–47.
Hovestadt, A. J., Anderson, W. T., Piercy, F. P., Cochran, S. W., & Fine, M. (1988). A family of origin scale.Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 11, 287–297.
Lakey, B. (1989). Personal and environmental antecedents of perceived social support.American Journal of Community Psychology, 17, 503–519.
Lakey, B., & Cassady, P. B. (1990). Cognitive processes in perceived social support.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 337–348.
Lakey, B., & Dickinson, L. G. (1994). Antecedents of perceived social support: Is perceived family environment generalized to new social relations?Cognitive Therapy and Research, 18, 39–53.
Lakey, B., & Heller, K. (1988). Social support from a friend, perceived support, and social problem solving,American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 811–824.
Lakey, B., & Lutz, C. J. (in press). Social support and preventive and therapeutic interventions. In G. R. Pierce, B. R. Sarason, and I. G. Sarason (Eds.),Handbook of social support and the family New York: Plenum Press.
Lakey, B., Moineau, S., & Drew, J. B. (1992). Perceived social support and individual differences in the interpretation and recall of supportive behavior.Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 11, 336–348.
Lakey, B., Ross, L. T., Butler, C., & Bentley, K. (1994).Making perceived social support judgments: The role of similarity and conscientiousness. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles.
Lewicki, P. (1983). Self-image bias in person perception.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 384–393.
Mallinckrodt, B. (1991). Clients' representations of childhood emotional bonds with parents, social support and formation of working alliance.Journal of Counseling Psychology, 38, 401–409.
Meehl, P. E. (1978). Theoretical risks and tabular asterisks: Sir Karl, Sir Ronald, and the slow progress of soft psychology.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 806–834.
Monroe, S. M., Brommet, E. J., Connell, M. M., & Steiner, S. C. (1986). Social support, life events, and depressive symptoms: A 1-year prospective study.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 421–431.
Monroe, S. M., & Steiner, S. C. (1986). Social support and psychopathology: Interrelations with preexisting disorder, stress, and personality.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, 29–39.
Phifer, J. F., & Murrell, S. A. (1986). Etiologic factors in the onset of depressive symtoms in older adults.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, 282–291.
Pierce, G. R., Sarason, B. R., & Sarason, I. G. (1992). General and specific support expectations and stress as predictors of perceived supportiveness: An experimental study.Journal of Personalith and Social Psychology, 63, 297–307.
Procidano, M. E., & Heller, K. (1983). Measures of perceived social support from friends and family: Three validation studies.American Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 1–24.
Reppetti, R. L. (1987). Individual and common components of the social environment at work and psychological well-being.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 710–720.
Rosenberg, M. (1979).Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books.
Sandler, I. N., West, S. G., Baca, L., Pillow, D. R., Gersten, J. C., Rogosch, F., Virdin, L., Beals, J., Reynolds, K. D., Kallgren, C., Tein, J., Kriege, G., Cole, E., & Ramirez, R. (1992). Linking empirically based theory and evaluation: the family bereavement program.American Journal of Community Psychology, 20, 491–522.
Sarason, B. R., Pierce, G. R., & Sarason, I. G. (1990). Social support: The sense of acceptance and the role of relationships. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.),Social support: An interactional view (pp. 97–128). New York: Wiley.
Sarason, B. R., Pierce, G. R., Shearin, E. M., Sarason, I. G., Waltz, J. A., & Poppe, L. (1991). Perceived support and working models of self and actual others.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 273–287.
Sarason, B. R., Sarason, I. G., & Pierce, G. R. (1990). Traditional views of social support and their impact on assessment. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.),Social support: An interactional view. New York: Wiley.
Sarason, I. G., Sarason, B. R., & Shearin, E. N. (1986). Social support as an individual difference variable: Its stability, origins, and relational aspects.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 845–855.
Sarason, I. G., Sarason, B. R., Shearin, E. N., & Pierce, G. R. (1987). A brief measure of social support: Practical and theoretical implications.Journal of Social and Personal Relations, 4, 845–855.
Schinke, S. P., Schilling, R. F., Barth, R. P., Gilchrist, L. D., & Maxwell, J. S. (1986). Stress management intervention to prevent family violence.Journal of Family Violence, 1, 13–25.
Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., & Lushene, R. E. (1970).Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Srull, T. K., & Wyer, R. S. (1989). Person memory and judgment.Psychological Review, 96, 58–83.
Thoits, P. A. (1986). Social support as coping assistance.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 416–424.
Vaux, A. (1988).Social support: Theory, research and intervention. New York: Praeger.
Vachon, M. L. S., Lyall, W. A. L., Roger, J., Freedman-Letofsky, K., & Freeman, S. J. J. (1980). A controlled study of self-help interventions for widows.American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 1380–1384.
Vinokni, A., Schul, Y., Caplan, R. D. (1987). Determinants of perceived social support: Interpersonal transactions, personal outlook, and transient affective states.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1137–1145.
Vitaliano, P. P., Russo, J., Young, H. M., Teri, L., & Maiuro, R. D. (1991). Predictors of burden in spouse caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease.Psychology and Aging, 6, 392–402.
Westen, D. (1991). Social cognition and object relations.Psychological Bulletin, 109, 429–455.
Wethington, E., & Kessler, R. C. (1986). Perceived support, received support, and adjustment to life events.Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 27, 78–89.
Wyer, R. S., & Carlston, D. E. (1994). The cognitive representation of persons and events. In R. S. Wyer, & T. K. Srull (Eds.),Handbook of social cognition (Vol. 1, pp. 41–98). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brand, E.F., Lakey, B. & Berman, S. A preventive, psychoeducational approach to increase perceived social support. Am J Commun Psychol 23, 117–135 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02506925
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02506925