The Effect of Social Support in Moderating the Health Consequences of Unemployment

Author(s): Susan Gore

Source: Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Jun., 1978), pp. 157-165
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2136531
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 THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL SUPPORT IN MODERATING THE HEALTH
CONSEQUENCES OF UNEMPLOYMENT*

SUSAN GORE
The University of Massachusetts-Boston

Journal of Health and Social Behavior 1978, Vol. 19 (June):157-165

In the context of a longitudinal investigation of the physical and mental health consequences of
involuntary job loss, it is hypothesized that social supports modify the relationship between
unemployment stress and health responses. As a result of two plant shutdowns, 100 stably
employed, married men were interviewed at five stages over a two-year period. Social support
was measured by a 13-item index covering the extent of supportive and affiliative relations with
wife, friends and relatives. The rural unemployed evidenced a significantly higher level of social
support than did the urban unemployed, a difference probably due to the strength of ethnic ties
in the small community and a more concerned social milieu. No differences between the
supported and unsupported were found with respect to weeks unemployed or to actual
economic deprivation. However, while unemployed, the unsupported evidenced significantly
higher elevations and more changes in measures of cholesterol, illness symptoms and affective
response than did the supported. While health differences between supported and unsupported
populations under stress are commonly interpreted as evidence that support buffers the effects
of life stress, it is argued that these and other study findings demonstrate the exacerbation of
life stress by a low sense of social support.

With the empirical relationship between
stress and illness now well documented,
attention has turned to explaining the re-
peated observation that many individuals
maintain good health even when exposed
to threatening life situations (Hinkle,
1974). One set of variables which appears
in most stress-adaptation models has been
called social supports (Moss, 1973; An-
tonovsky, 1974; Cobb, 1974; Mechanic et
al., 1974). There is no single explanation
of how support short-circuits the illness
response to stress, but it is widely under-
stood that support increases coping
ability, which is the etiological gate to
health and well-being. This paper reports
a test of the hypothesis that support buf-
fers the health effects of life stress. The
study is a longitudinal investigation of the
physical and mental health consequences
of involuntary job loss. Several features of
the design allow for examination of the
support effect on variables of psycholog-
* Analysis of the data was supported by Grant
#91-26-72-22 for the Manpower Administration,
U.S. Department of Labor. An earlier version of this
paper was presented at the annual meeting of the
American Psychological Association, September,
1973. Appreciation is extended to Anne Knight and
Susan Brown for their valuable assistance in the
preparation of this paper.
ical and physical health, and on an inter-
vening variable of subjective stress, i.e.,
the individual's appraisal of the severity of
the situation.
The Relationship of Social Supports to
Life Stress
The effects of supports have been re-
ported from the study of diverse popula-
tions, across a range of life stresses affect-
ing a number of health and illness vari-
ables (see Cobb, 1976 for a selected re-
view; and Pinneau, 1975, who includes
experimental research). The concept of
support has been incorporated into new
models for community mental health
(Caplan, 1974) and health care delivery
(Croog et al., 1968). And support is re-
garded as the core of the mutual-help
organizations which have proliferated in
response to the increased incidence and
awareness of stressful life transitions
(Caplan and Killilea, 1976). The scope of
this work demonstrates the importance at-
tributed to social support in preventing
and reducing illness, and in effecting more
rapid recovery. However, some re-
searchers have been critical of the evi-
dence showing the benefits of support,
arguing that estimates of increased illness

157

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158 JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
immunity through support are needed
(Dohrenwend and Dohrenwend,
1974:318). Toward this goal, there has
been some systematic study of the so-
called buffering effect of social supports.
Nuckolls et al. (1972) have investigated
the relationship between life stress and
pregnancy complications, and the effect of
various "psycho-social assets," or sup-
ports, on this relationship. In their
analysis neither stress nor supports (as-
sets) alone are associated with the number
of pregnancy and childbirth complica-
tions. But the intereaction of support and
stress accounts for significant variation;
among the highly stressed, the unsup-
ported have three times the complication
rate of the supported.
Similarly, Myers et al. (1975) have
sought to explain why number of life
events is not associated with psychiatric
distress for some persons. Employing the
concept of "social integration" to stand
for a number of variables (e.g., socioeco-
nomic status, marital status, job satisfac-
tion), they report that two atypical
groups-persons with either high stress
and low symptomatology or low stress
and high symptomatology-differ in the
predicted direction on each of the integra-
tion variables. Stratifying the sample by
number of events and by increase or de-
crease in events from a first to a second
panel, they demonstrate that significant
variation in psychiatric symptomatology
for each subgroup is explained by the nine ship buffers the aged against the stress of
independent variables of integration. Cit-
ing Durkheim, Myers et al. (1975:426)
conclude that "People who have ready
and meaningful access to others, [who]
feel integrated into the system, and are
satisfied with their roles seem better able
to cope with the impact of life events."
This interpretation, that support buffers
the effects of life stress, is compatible with creasing social interaction, but the effect
the finding reported by these investigators
and by Nuckolls et al. (1972), namely, a
number of highly-stressed individuals who
are supported are in better health than the effects of "traumatic social depriva-
stressed who are unsupported. However,
the health differentials reported in each
study might also be attributed to the
exacerbating effect of low support. The
Myers et al. (1975) data indicate an appar-
ent main effect of integration on symp-
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tomatology, as the variables of integration
are also significantly associated with
symptomatology in the low-stress groups
(i.e. having few events or decreases in
events). In this case, high support cannot
be said to buffer against life stress, be-
cause stress is low and expected symp-
tomology would be low. Low integration
contributes to poor health even in the ab-
sence of significant life stress. Thus, a
parsimonious interpretation for these find-
ings would be that low scores on the vari-
ables of integration indicate the presence
of additional life stresses which, when
combined with a number of other stress
events, account for the higher symp-
tomatology of some individuals.
Similarly, in the Nuckolls et al. (1972)
study, the effect of support on pregnancy
complications in only the high-stress con-
dition provides evidence for the buffering
interpretation; support is seen to reduce
the level of complications otherwise likely
to follow a high number of stress events.
However, the high frequency of complica-
tions in the high-stress condition is not the
consequence of stress alone, but of stress
coupled with low support.
Rather than study the effects of sup-
ports on reducing the health risk of
multiple-stress events, other researchers
have focussed on the functions of sup-
ports in particular stress situations. Low-
enthal and Haven (1968), for example,
studied whether a single intimate relation-
social disengagement which is usually
associated with depression and poor
morale. Their data indicate that those who
decrease social interaction but have a con-
fidant are no more likely to be depressed
than those who increase social interac-
tion. Lack of a confidant is also associated
with depression for individuals not de-
of the confidant is more marked in the
group with interaction reductions. This
pattern of findings is replicated when the
tions," such as death of spouse, are con-
sidered. Presence of a confidant, how-
ever, does not buffer for the effects of
physical illness on depression. The re-
searchers propose that supportive others
may be powerless to deal with fears about
 EFFECT OF SOCIAL SUPPORT 159
the increasing imminence of death. Alter-
natively, supportive capacity may be im-
paired by the extreme social dependency
created by severe illness.
Caplan (1972) has reported that for
NASA scientists, administrators, and
engineers, good work relations serve as a
buffer between some occupational stresses
and some physiological strains. Role
ambiguity, for example, was significantly
correlated with elevations in serum cor-
tisol only for persons experiencing poor
interpersonal relations with subordinates.
These people would have little expecta-
tion of help from subordinates to resolve
or weather the ambiguity. Pinneau (1975,
1976) has reviewed Caplan's (1972) find-
ings, and tested for the buffering effect of
support on a sample which includes mem-
bers of high-stress occupations such as
air-traffic controllers. His cross-sectional
data indicated that support was related
significantly to reports of job-related
stresses and psychological strain across a
number of occupations. However, while
an intercorrelation of these measures
might be expected from self-reports, sup-
port was not associated with a reduction
in physiological strain, and there was little
evidence that support buffered the effects
of stress on either psychological or physi-
ological strain. From these findings and an
examination of the Caplan (1972) study,
Pinneau argues that a few statistical in-
teractions amidst non-significant effects
and anomalous patterns are not very
meaningful. He notes in the Caplan (1972)
data that while support reduces the level
of cortisol for individuals having high role
ambiguity, individuals with low role am-
biguity have lower levels of cortisol under
the low-support condition. This finding is
not expected under the support hypoth-
esis.
The Study
This study is a longitudinal investigation
of the physical and mental health conse-
quences of job loss and of the ensuing
unemployment experience. Two com-
panies were identified which were going to
shut down, with all employees losing their
jobs. These terminations, one in a large
city and the second in a small, rural com-
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munity, made it possible to follow a
cohort of once stably-employed men at
regular intervals through several distinct
stages of job change.
Preliminary analysis of the data yielded
some evidence that the effects of job loss
on each group of terminees were quite
different. The rural men experienced more
weeks of unemployment. However, they
had less abnormal change on a few indi-
cators of health and thus appeared to re-
turn to normal more rapidly than did the
urban terminees. This observation, that an
objectively more severe experience had a
relatively smaller impact, suggested that
social context played an important role in
adaptation.
The present analysis examines the is-
sues of whether the difference in social
context might be measured as a variable of
social supports, and whether support
modifies some negative health responses
to unemployment. Several features make
this study's focus and design appropriate
for an examination of the effect of sup-
port: (1) Job loss and unemployment are
sociologically significant stressful experi-
ences with a number of documented
health effects (see Kasl, 1974 for a re-
view). Over the decades beginning with
the Depression studies, many researchers
have argued that marital supports
(Komarovsky, 1940), and family and
friendship supports (Cavan and Ranck,
1938; Ferman, 1964) affect the psycholog-
ical impact of unemployment, but the na-
ture and extent of this support effect has
not been systematically studied. (2) The
study is longitudinal, allowing for a better
examination of causal evidence. (3) All
cases suffered an involuntary job loss.
This is an unambiguously negative event,
which is itself stressful and which is the
stimulus for other concurrent life stresses.
(4) While it is possible that reports of ill-
ness may be understood as indicators of
illness behavior (Mechanic, 1962), data on
physiological changes are more objective
indicators of health risk.
METHODS
The Sample and Study Design
The men studied, 54 rural and 46 urban
terminees, were married blue collar work-
160 JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
ers, with a mean age of 49 years and mean
seniority of 20 years. In addition, 74 con-
trols who were continuously employed in
comparable jobs at four companies were
observed during the same period of time
using the same assessment procedures.
Controls and terminees were compared on
a number of variables other than employ-
ment status which would account for dif-
ferences in health measurements. The
groups were largely similar, but during an
initial interview, controls reported signifi-
cantly more health problems and concerns
about their health than the terminees. Ap-
parently, many of these men were self-
selected into the study because of the
opportunity to be visited regularly by a
public health nurse.' Because the control
values probably represent an inflated
baseline, the stress effect will be assessed
better by within-terminee comparisons at
one point in time, and by assessment of
terminee change over time.
The men were seen in their homes by
public-health nurses at intervals corre-
sponding in time to the following five
stages: Stage 1: Anticipation. The first
visit occurs some six weeks before the
scheduled shutdown, after the men were
informed of the closing. Stage 2: Termina-
tion. One month after the closing, about
one-half of the men are unemployed and
the rest are in the probationary period of
new employment. Stage 3: Readjustment.
Six months after the closing, about 90 per-
cent of the men have found new jobs and
have stabilized their employment situa-
tion. Two subsequent visits, Stages 4 and
5, were made one and two years after the
closing. At these times only a few men
reported additional job changes.
Measures of Stress, Supports, and Health
First, stress is measured by the stage of
the job change experience. The early pe-
riods of anticipated and actual job change
are assured to be more stressful than the
latter two periods, one and two years after
termination. Additional measures of stress
are used to control for differences in se-
verity of the job loss experience. One is
Weeks Unemployed. The second, Eco-
nomic Deprivation, is an index score de-
rived from responses to five questions
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concerning changes in income, debts and
savings, as well as receipt of loans and
cutting of expenses (cf. Aiken et al.,
1968).
The dependent health variables include
measures of Depression and Self-Blame,
reported Illness Symptoms, and level of
Serum Cholesterol. Depression is a
twenty-six item index with components of
anxiety-tension, low self-esteem, and
sadness. It was derived by item analysis of
scales used by Gurin et al. (1960) and by
Langner and Michael (1963), with further
refinements by Kasl and Cobb (1967,
1969). The measure of Illness Symptoms is
a count of the number of physical com-
plaints out of thirteen possible symptoms
that the respondent reports having during
a two-week period. Determinations of
Cholesterol were carried out on an auto-
matic dialyzing apparatus from the speci-
mens taken at each visit.
A final class of variables includes mod-
erating and intervening variables. Social
Support was measured by a thirteen-item
index covering the individual's perception
of wife, friends and relatives as supportive
or unsupportive (8 items); frequency of
activity outside the home with the same
classes of relationships (3 items); and re-
spondent's perceived opportunity for
engaging in social activities which are
satisfying and which allow him to talk
about his problems (2 items). Two levels
of support were established. The men in
the lowest population tertile were desig-
nated as "unsupported," while the men in
the upper two-thirds of the distribution
were designated "supported." This cut in
the distribution reflects the frequent ob-
servation that the very minimally sup-
ported are the most at risk for physical
and mental illness. The intervening vari-
able, Perceived Economic Deprivation,
was derived from 2 items covering income
comparisons with friends and neighbors,
and difficulty in "getting by" financially.2
RESULTS
Before considering the impact of social
support on health, it is important to note
that support was not significantly associ-
ated with stress as indicated by weeks un-
employed or degree of economic depriva-
 EFFECT OF SOCIAL SUPPORT 161

tion. These relationships would not be ex-
pected, given the overall emphasis of the
index on psycho-emotional support,
rather than on the more tangible aspects of
supportive behavior. Also, as expected
from impressions about the urban and
rural social contexts, the rural terminees
and controls had a significantly higher
mean value on the support measure than
the urban respondents (p < .05). This was
partly due to reports of higher kinship
support and affiliation, which reflected the
ethnic cohesion of the largely Polish-
American sample in the rural area. In
addition, the community's response to its
threatened economic base promoted an
atmosphere of concern not evident in the
urban area.
Since social support does not reduce
stress through hastening reemployment or
moderating financial difficulty, the
present analysis examines the different
patterns of health-related responses for
supported and unsupported men over
time, as their job situation changes.
Tables 1 and 2 present the mean values
for each dependent variable as the cases
go through the stages of job loss and re-
employment.3 For the first two variables,
cholesterol and number of illness symp-
toms, differences by support among the
promptly reemployed were not signifi-
cant, so the sample was stratified to allow
for comparison of three groups of ter-
minees: (1) the low-stress group-those
men who are promptly reemployed by
Stage 2, whatever the level of support; (2)
supported men who go from employment
at Stage 1 (Anticipation) to unemployment
at Stage 2, and (in most cases) to reem-
ployment at Stage 3; and (3) unsupported
men who have the same unemployment
experience as those in (2). For the third
dependent variable, depression, all sup-
ported men are compared with the sup-
ported and unsupported among the unem-

TABLE 1. MEAN VALUES FOR SERUM CHOLESTEROL AND NUMBER OF ILLNESS SYMP-
TOMS OVER STAGES OF JOB CHANGE BY LENGTH OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND
LEVEL OF SOCIAL SUPPORT

Stage of Job Change

Unemployment Experience/ 1 2 3 4 5
Social Support Anticipation Termination Readjustment 1 year 2 years

Cholesterol

a. PromptReemployment/ 230.1 226.5 215.3 217.5 207.4

high-and low support N=44 N=40 N=37 N=36 N=33
b. Unemployed atStage 2/ 221.2 220.9 197.7 182.2 198.0
supported N=35 N=34 N=31 N=31 N=31
c. Unemployed at Stage 2/ 222.6 247.5 224.2 218.0 219.9
unsupported N=15 N=16 N=15 N=15 N=14

F .54 2.12 2.76 7.72 8.13

P N.S. N.S. N.S. .005 .005
t (aandbvs.c) - 2.02 1.64 4.10 1.82
P N.S. .025 .10 .0005 .05
Number of Illness Symptoms

a. PromptReemployment/ 1.51 1.36 1.55 1.43 1.42

high and low support N=46 N=45 N=42 N=41 N=34
b. Unemployed atStage 2/ 1.24 0.91 1.17 1.21 1.16
supported N=33 N=33 N=30 N=33 N=31
c. Unemployed atStage 2/ 3.07* 2.93* 2.07 2.27 1.86
unsupported N=15 N=15 N=15 N=15 N=14

F 6.71 8.25 1.83 1.89 0.92

P .01 .001 N.S. N.S. N.S.

* Greater than controls, P<.005

Note: Control value for Cholesterol=236.7; control value for Illness Symptoms=1.81

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162 JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

TABLE 2. MEAN VALUES FOR DEPRESSION AND PERCEIVED ECONOMIC DEPRIVA-

TION OVER STAGES OF JOB CHANGE BY LENGTH OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND LEVEL
OF SOCIAL SUPPORT

Stage of Job Change

Unemployment Experience/ 1 2 3 4 5
Social Support Anticipation Termination Rcadjustment 1 year 2 years

Depression *

a. All supported men 1.76 1.78 1.63 1.73 1.74

N=65 N=65 N=59 N=59 N=58
b. Prompt reemployment/ 2.14 1.94 2.18 2.12 2.27
unsupported N=16 N=16 N=13 N=14 N=9
c. Unemployedatstage2/ 2.29 2.41 2.32 2.35 2.48
unsupported N=16 N=16 N=13 N=14 N= 12

F 4.61 9.69 7.47 4.58 7.32

P .05 .001 .01 .05 .01
Perceived Economic Deprivation * *

a. Prompt Reemployment/ 2.36 2.47 2.18 2.22 2.33

high and low support N=44 N=45 N=42 N=41 N=37
b. Unemployedat Stage 2/ 2.08 2.83 2.30 2.42 2.37
supported N=31 N=30 N=28 N=30 N=27
c. Unemployed at Stage 2/ 2.25 3.70 3.40 3.21 2.70
unsupported N=10 N=10 N=12 N=12 N-10

F 2.35 12.01 17.46 10.0 1.48

P N.S. .001 .001 .001 N.S.

* High values=high depression; control value=1.70 for supported and 2.08 for unsupported.
** High values=high deprivation.

ployed. The mean values for the controls
are provided for comparison.
For the first outcome variable, choles-
terol, there is a significant drop in mean
values from the first to the last visit (p <
.005) for all men except the unemployed
who are also unsupported. This trend is
not evidenced in the longitudinal data on
the controls. The data also indicate differ-
ent patterns of change in cholesterol
values for the three groups of terminees
over the first three stages. For individuals
unemployed at Stage 2 (after termination),
the levels of the unsupported peak at this
time, involving a mean rise of 30mg%0 (p <
.01). However, the values for the unem-
ployed who are supported remain stable
from Stage 1 to Stage 2. For both groups
there is a significant drop in mean values
(p < .01, p < .001) from Stage 2 to Stage 3,
when all but a few men in each group are
reemployed.
For number of illness symptoms, the
unsupported who become unemployed
evidence elevated illness complaining at
Stages 1 and 2, which drops with reem-
ployment at Stage 3, so that there are no
statistically significant differences be-
tween groups. For men who have little or
no unemployment, and for those who are
well supported, there are insignificant
fluctuations over the five stages of job
change. It is also evident that the well
supported report lower mean levels of
symptoms than do the quickly reem-
ployed, a difference due to a small main
effect of support on symptoms.
For the analysis of the effects on de-
pression, all supported men are taken as a
group because the effects of social support
on depression were more significant than
the effects of unemployment. While the
unsupported who experience considerable
unemployment are the most highly de-
pressed, there is no evidence of significant
longitudinal change, making it difficult to
infer that the depression is a consequence
of the unemployment experience.
A final analysis involved examining a
measure of Perceived Economic Depriva-
tion as an intervening variable, as well as
determining whether support affects

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 EFFECT OF SOCIAL SUPPORT 163
either perceptions of deprivation or the
relationship between this subjective
evaluation and the dependent variables.
As was noted earlier, support is not
associated with actual deprivation as mea-
sured by an index of change in economic
status. However, support does affect per-
ceptions of deprivation. Table 2 presents
the mean values for perceived economic
deprivation for the same terminee groups
as in Table 1. Both the supported and un-
supported terminees who do not find a
new job by Stage 2 report significant in-
creases in deprivation (p < .001). How-
ever, when by Stage 3 most men have
found new jobs, mean values remain ele-
vated for the unsupported, while they drop
significantly (p < .01) for the supported,
and remain only slightly more elevated
than for the group quickly reemployed.
The unsupported finally show a significant
drop in deprivation (p < .01) from Stage 4
to 5, two years after the termination.
Support evidently buffers perceptions
of economic deprivation, but is sensed
deprivation the psychological link to the
health outcomes? For men unemployed at
Stage 2, the correlations between per-
ceived economic deprivation and mea-
sures of illness symptoms and cholesterol
at this time were non-significant for both
the supported and unsupported groups.
However, perceived economic depriva-
tion was significantly associated with de-
pression for the unsupported men only (r
= .58, p < .05). The correlations between
change in deprivation from Stage 1 to
Stage 2 and change in each of the depen-
dent variables were non-significant; but
for the unsupported men increase in de-
privation was weakly associated with an
increas'e in depression (r = .39). These
findings indicate that sense of economic
deprivation should be seen as an
additional affective response to unem-
ployment, which is buffered by social
support, but uncorrelated with measures
of illness behavior and physiological
change.
DISCUSSION
Consistent differences in the dependent
variables by level of support indicate that
social support modifies severity of psy-
chological and health-related responses to
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unemployment. However, a few problems
which raise questions of interpretation
should be noted. First, it is difficult to find
appropriate baseline values against which
to judge the effects of unemployment
stress and social support. The control
values are obviously inflated, and Antici-
pation, a stress in itself, is not an appro-
priate baseline.
Examination of the mean values indi-
cates fewer abnormal changes for the sup-
ported terminees during the early stressful
stages ofjob change. However, in the case
of cholesterol, some question must be
raised about the strikingly low mean level
for the supported men one year after the
termination. Perhaps the values at these
later stages should be considered the
baselines, in which case it could be argued
that the supported men had elevated
cholesterol at Anticipation, prior to un-
employment, while the unsupported did
not. In this case, it would be difficult to
say that the supported had a less severe
experience, but one can argue that the
responses to unemployment differed in
pattern.4 Furthermore, it should be noted
that the cholesterol levels of even the un-
supported men are within the normal
range.
To argue that unemployment affects
psychological status, the measure of de-
pression would have to be more sensitive
to situational changes. While this is not
the case, it is important to note that sig-
nificantly more of those few men who evi-
denced self-blame for being unemployed
were among the unsupported than sup-
ported (p < .05). Also, the unsupported
reported a consistently higher sense of
economic deprivation than did the sup-
ported in similar economic circumstances.
Given these findings, how should the
moderating effects of support be inter-
preted? In the literature on unemploy-
ment, support has been conceived as hav-
ing both tangible and psychological di-
mensions (cf. Gore, 1973). The index used
here, constructed for a secondary
analysis, is on its face a measure of psy-
chological support. Beyond face validity,
the significant difference in urban-rural
support values suggests the measure's
sensitivity to the differences in social
milieu which were noted at the study's
inception. Thus, for this sample, support
164 JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

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needed all for oneself and not for what one
Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Ef-
can do." He argues that those receiving fects. New York: Wiley.
social support are not dependent on ac- Caplan, Gerald
complishments for self esteem, and con- 1974 Support Systems and Community Mental
Health. New York: Behavioral Publica-
versely, that the unsupported must "re-
tions.
sort to instrumental accomplishments" Caplan, Gerald and Marie Kilhlea
for their feelings of self-worth. Unem- 1976 Support Systems and Mutual Help: Mul-
ployment, in large part, means the in- tidisciplinary Explorations. New York:
ability to make instrumental accom- Grune and Stratton.
Caplan, Robert D.
plishments. Thus, it might be interpreted 1972 Organizational stress and individual strain:
that this loss, in the absence of a continu- A sociopsychological study of risk factors
ing sense of self-worth maintained through in coronary heart disease among adminis-
supportive relationships, contributes to trators, engineers and scientists. Unpub-
lished Ph.D. Dissertation, the University of
negative health responses. In this re-
Michigan.
search, it is impossible to point to the Cavan, Ruth and Katherine Ranck
specific behaviors of others which 1938 The Family and the Depression: A Study of
ameliorate life stress, i.e., the buffering 100 Chicago Families. Chicago: University
effect. It thus makes more sense to ex- of Chicago Press.
Cobb, S.
plain the more negative responses of some
1974 "A model for life events and their conse-
terminees as the exacerbation of the un- quences." Pp. 151-6 in B. S. Dohrenwend
employment experience by a low sense of and B. P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life
social support. Events: Their Nature and Effects. New
York: Wiley.
1976 "Social support as a moderator of life
NOTES
stress." Psychosomatic Medicine 38:300-
1. A threatened shutdown at one the control plants 14.
Cobb, S., S. V. Kasl, G. W. Brooks, and W. E.
during the period of observation raises further
questions about the usefulness of the control data.
Connelly
See Cobb et al. (1966) for further details about 1966 "The health of people changing jobs: A de-
the
sample. scription of a longitudinal study." Ameri-
can Journal of Public Health 56:1476-81.
2. Details about all measures and construction of the
Croog, S. H., S. Levine and Z. Lurie
social-support index can be found in the author's1968 "The heart patient and the recovery pro-
doctoral dissertation (Gore, 1973), from which cess." Social Science and Medicine
these analyses are taken. 2:111-64.
Dohrenwend, Barbara S. and Bruce P. Dohrenwend
3. At each panel the subgroup totals add to less than1974 Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Ef-
100 because of missing data on that variable. In fects. New York: Wiley.
addition, from the visit at Termination throughFerman, L.
the second study year there was attrition of a few 1964 "Sociological perspectives in unemploy-
cases. Where change scores are calculated, 2 sets ment research." In A. Shostak and W.
of observations must be available for each case. Gomberg (eds.), Blue Collar World.
There is some indication from measures of sup- Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-
ports and stress taken prior to the shutdown that Hall.
more men who refused an interview at the next Gore, Susan
visit were among the unsupported, and that these1973 The Influence of Social Support and Re-
men were more stressed by the termination. If lated Variables in Ameliorating the Conse-
anything, therefore, the attrition probably quences of Job Loss. Ph.D. Dissertation,
minimizes the stress and support effects. The University of Pennsylvania. Disserta-
tion Abstracts International, 1974, 34,
4. Appreciation goes to Richard Pinneau for his in- 5330-A-5331A (University Microfilms No.
sights into these problems of interpretation. 74-2416).

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 EFFECT OF SOCIAL SUPPORT 165

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1974 "Work and mental health." Pp. 171-96 in J.
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Kasl, S. V. and S. Cobb
1967 "The effects of parental status incongru-
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rheumatoid arthritis. B: Differences be-
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1974 "Social structure and personal adaptation:
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the 84th Annual Convention of the Ameri-
can Psychological Association, Washing-
ton, D.C., September.

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