Social Support and its Relationship to Human Physical Health and Functioning

Abstract

Social support is a complicated term that over 30 definitions try to determine, it usually refers to the network of social relationships of each person, as well as to the moral tangible, emotional or other support that the person receive?. There seems to be many types of social support, while the appropriate type may not be offered in every situation. Social support is related to the onset and, more strong­ly, to the course and prognosis of a whole range or health problems. Many re­search efforts have demonstrated that social support can exert influence on health both directly and indirectly, either through neuro-honnonal pathways, or through changes to health related behaviors, or as a “buffer” against stress. However, so­cial support may cause trouble to both providers and receivers, under certain con­ditions. Psychosocial programs that make use of social support have been devel­oped and their effectiveness is being discussed. We also discuss the relation be­tween social support and the interpersonal relationships system, its role with re­spect to cognitive and behavioral change, the significance of community support, and we offer some proposals for future research.