Stress, Social Support, and Social Relationships: Three Studies

Introduction

Social relationships are broadly regarded as having both positive and negative effects on the ability of the human body to resist infection. However, these relationships and their associated support sometimes generate social conflicts, which are in turn common causes of stressful environments. The social conflicts emerging from social relationships and social support contribute to stressful life events, including chronic problems at home and in the workplace, as well as stressful incidents involving family members, work colleagues, classmates, and friends. As a result, these three issues have been the subject of various studies seeking to illuminate the significance of social relationships and support in dealing with stress. This paper presents a summary and analysis of three articles on this issue in light of emotions, social relationships, and health.

Summary of Article One: Social Support and Blood Pressure

Bowen et al. conducted a study on the stress-buffering effects of functional social support on ambulatory blood pressure (p. 1440). This research was carried out on the premise that social support is a valid indicator of cardiovascular health. The study was also based on the hypothesis that social support may be associated with health because it decreases stress evaluations or weakens the link between stress and negative health outcomes. The researchers recognized that previous analyses examine stress-buffering through an internal belief that support is available within a person's network when needed, rather than through actual enacted support based on the structure of an individual's network. They argued that analyzing particular support functions provides necessary information about the mechanisms underlying the link between global support and health. Consequently, the researchers focused on evaluating specific links to personal support functions — particularly emotional and informational support, which are regarded as the most consistent stress-buffering functions.

The study was conducted on a group of 94 healthy heterosexual couples recruited from the community. The research methodology involved the use of the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Ambulatory Blood Pressure (ABP) monitoring, and an Ambulatory Diary Record (ADR). The results from each of these measures were analyzed using a PROC MIXED model and preliminary analyses. The researchers found that informational support consistently buffered the association between temporary stress and both ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressure (Bowen et al., p. 1443). In essence, global support as well as emotional, tangible, and informational support only moderated the effects of temporary stress, not global stress. The researchers conclude by suggesting that the perceived availability of social networks capable of offering beneficial information or advice is a particularly relevant support resource in the context of stress, as opposed to global support alone. In the face of temporary stress, the buffering effects of informational support may protect against cardiovascular morbidity over time by reducing ambulatory blood pressure.

Summary of Article Two: Stress and Social Memory Retrieval

Christian J. Merz, Oliver T. Wolf, and Jurgen Hennig conducted research on how stress impairs the retrieval of socially relevant information. The research was based on the fact that various studies have indicated that stress impairs memory retrieval, though their findings are not unequivocal (Merz, Wolf & Hennig, p. 288). The study was also motivated by the observation that previous research had not examined memory for socially relevant information specifically. Consequently, their research focused on assessing the effects of stress on the retrieval of socially relevant information and memory.

The researchers utilized a randomized balanced cross-over experiment with a group of 29 participants, including 15 women. The experiment involved conducting two tests of cognitive performance on these participants and testing their social memory in a stress session. Participants were subjected to a short, standardized psychosocial laboratory stressor, and their performance was compared to cognitive performance in a stress-free control session. The researchers found that the retrieval of social memory was significantly reduced after stress due to cortisol response. Cortisol response was characterized by considerable changes in cortisol secretion and mood following successful stress induction. Generally, exposure to stress produced an increase in cortisol concentrations and significant changes across multiple mood measures. In addition, the retrieval of declarative memory for socially relevant information was impaired after exposure to acute stress, in the same manner as other forms of declarative memory. The authors conclude that their study demonstrates that acute stress significantly impairs the retrieval of socially relevant information (Merz, Wolf & Hennig, p. 292).

Conclusion

These studies demonstrate that social relationships and support, emotions, and mental health are strongly linked. This implies that stress can emerge from normal life events and result in mental health issues, particularly when social relationships and social integration do not address these situations effectively. Generally, while social relationships and support have positive effects on family and social life, they can also generate social conflicts that affect mental health by impairing psychological function. Taken together, the three studies underscore the complexity of the relationship between social support and stress and highlight the importance of distinguishing between different types of social support — structural, functional, emotional, and informational — when assessing their influence on health outcomes.

Works Cited

Absi, Mustafa Al. Stress and Addiction: Biological and Psychological Mechanisms. Amsterdam: Academic, 2007. Print.

Bolger, Niall, and John Eckenrode. "Social Relationships, Personality, and Anxiety during a Major Stressful Event." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61.3 (1991): 440–49. Print.

Bowen, Kimberly S., Bert N. Uchino, Wendy Birmingham, McKenzie Carlisle, Timothy W. Smith, and Kathleen C. Light. "The Stress-Buffering Effects of Functional Social Support on Ambulatory Blood Pressure." Health Psychology 33.11 (2013): 1440–43. Print.

Cohen, Sheldon. "Social Relationships and Susceptibility to the Common Cold." Psychology Department. University, n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.

Merz, Christian J., Oliver T. Wolf, and Jurgen Hennig. "Stress Impairs Retrieval of Socially Relevant Information." Behavioral Neuroscience 124.2 (2010): 288–93. Print.