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Social support interventions and the third law of ecology
Author(s) -
Barrera Manuel
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf00942261
Subject(s) - health psychology , social ecology , psychological intervention , ecology , public health , sociology , environmental ethics , psychology , criminology , political science , social psychology , law , medicine , biology , philosophy , nursing , psychiatry
Most of what we know about the effectiveness of social support is based on field studies of naturalistic relationships and transactions. Social support interventions, particularly those that attempt to create new support providers, stretch the limits of our knowledge base. The article by Heller et al. (1991) highlights gaps in our knowledge, suggests the importance of intimacy in support exchanges, and identifies possible limitations in trying to compensate for deficiencies in family support with new friendships.