A hypothesized need to form and maintain strong, stable interpersonal relationships is evaluated in light of the empirical literature. The need is for frequent, nonaversive interactions within an ongoing relational bond. Consistent with the belongingness hypothesis, people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds. Belongingness appears to have multiple and strong effects on emotional patterns and on cognitive processes. Lack of attachments is linked to a variety of ill effects on health, adjustment, and well-being. Other evidence, such as that concerning satiation, substitution, and behavioral consequences, is likewise consistent with the hypothesized motivation. Several seeming counterexamples turned out not to disconfirm the hypothesis. Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation.

The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.

Examines whether the positive association between social support and well-being is attributable more to an overall beneficial effect of support (main- or direct-effect model) or to a process of support protecting persons from potentially adverse effects of stressful events (buffering model). The review of studies is organized according to (1) whether a measure assesses support structure (the existence of relationships) or function (the extent to which one's interpersonal relationships provide particular resources) and (2) the degree of specificity (vs globality) of the scale. Special attention is given to methodological characteristics that are requisite for a fair comparison of the models. It is concluded that there is evidence consistent with both models. Evidence for the buffering model is found when the social support measure assesses the perceived availability of interpersonal resources that are responsive to the needs elicited by stressful events. Evidence for a main effect model is found when the support measure assesses a person's degree of integration in a large social network. Both conceptualizations of social support are correct in some respects, but each represents a different process through which social support may affect well-being. Implications for theories of social support processes and for the design of preventive interventions are discussed.

/pdf/stress-social-support-and-the-buffering-hypothesis-37b7abjbst.pdf

Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis.

Job Demands, Job Decision Latitude, and Mental Strain: Implications for Job Redesign

https://webs.wofford.edu/boppkl/courseFiles/Psy150/Labs/SocialLab/Holmes%20and%20Rahe_1967.pdf

The social readjustment rating scale

Major perspectives concerning stress are presented with the goal of clarifying the nature of what has proved to be a heuristic but vague construct. Current conceptualizations of stress are challenged as being too phenomenological and ambiguous, and consequently, not given to direct empirical testing. Indeed, it is argued that researchers have tended to avoid the problem of defining stress, choosing to study stress without reference to a clear framework. A new stress model called the model of conservation of resources is presented as an alternative. This resource-oriented model is based on the supposition that people strive to retain, project, and build resources and that what is threatening to them is the potential or actual loss of these valued resources. Implications of the model of conservation of resources for new research directions are discussed.

Conservation of resources. A new attempt at conceptualizing stress.

Social stress and illness onset.

A selected review of life changes and illness studies is presented, which illustrates both the diversity of samples that have been tested in these studies and the generally positive results that have been obtained. Although early (retrospective) work in this field led to simplistic explanations, later (prospective) studies have begun to document the several intervening variables that occur between subjects recent life change experiences and their subsequent symptomatology and disease. A life change and illness model is presented to illustrate key intervening variables. The authors believe that future research in the field of life change and illness should concentrate on further delineations of these intervening variables — an effort necessitating active collaboration between social and medical scientists.

Life change and illness studies: past history and future directions.

Currently popular methodologies in life changes and illness research are presented in some detail. Selected examples of epidemiological studies utilizing these methodologies are briefly reviewed. Examples of both retrospective and prospective investigations of life change and illness are given. Discussed in the chapter are the author's views as to limitations of the epidemiologic method and probable directions of future research in efforts to clarify etiologic mechanisms along the pathway between subjects' recent life changes and their subsequent susceptibility to illness.

Epidemiological Studies of Life Change and Illness

314 Am J Psychiatry 132:3, March 1975 plexities. For instance, vitamin B deficiency in animals leads to a reduction in brain size, RNA synthesis, DNA synthesis, and nucleic acid synthesis. However, the specific role of vitamin B in the mental development of man has yet to be clearly elucidated. The problems encountered in this type of research in underdeveloped areas involve the complex interaction among malnutnition, untreated infectious diseases, and psychological factors due to disturbed family relationships. The clinical papers presented in this book often address themselves to the attempt to tease apart these various factors. This endeavor appears to be without success: detailed descriptions of nutritional interventions in field studies are often lacking. Allusions are also made to the very real technical problems in supplemental nutrition programs. For instance, the government of Chile attempted a milk distribution program that would assure every child at least one pint of milk daily. Follow-up of this program over several years revealed that 25 percent of the distnibuted milk actually reached the hands of those for whom it was intended. This book is ofintenest to workers in the field ofnutnition and mental development. No one could doubt, either before or after reading this book, that adequate early nutrition is important for brain development. Although the book is of very limited interest to the average psychiatrist, it is certainly thought provoking.

Richard H. Rahe

Papers

The social readjustment rating scale

Social stress and illness onset.

Life change and illness studies: past history and future directions.

Epidemiological Studies of Life Change and Illness

Life Stress and Illness