Stress - 7. Managing and Coping with Stress: 5. Social Support

Question 1

3 types of social support

Answer 1

Instrumental
Emotional
Esteem

Question 2

Instrumental social support

Answer 2

Practical support
Practical assistance offered to the individual in coping with the stress

Question 3

Emotional social support

Answer 3

Providing comfort through statements like “I am sorry about what you are going through”
Expressing empathy and warmth for the person to comfort them and make them feel better

Question 4

Esteem social support

Answer 4

Trying to raise the person’s self-confidence so they believe they can cope with the stressor
Statements such as “I know you can get through this, you’ve done it before”

Question 5

Gender differences in social support

Answer 5

54% of males use instrumental social support and only 23% use emotional
20% of females use instrumental social support and 48% use emotional

Question 6

Research support for social support in cancer patients (Fawzy et al)

Answer 6

Cancer patients randomly allocated to support group for 6 weeks were more likely to be free from cancer 6 years later than control group

Question 7

Research support into social support by Cohen et al

Answer 7

404 healthy adult participants exposed to common cold illness
Participants who reported more social support had reduced risk of illness
Participants who received hugs more frequently were les likely to get ill