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The Role of Social Support in Bereavement
Author(s) -
Vachon Mary L. S.,
Stylianos Stanley K.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1988.tb02084.x
Subject(s) - social support , distress , stressor , psychology , intervention (counseling) , social network (sociolinguistics) , perception , personality , grief , social psychology , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , psychiatry , computer science , world wide web , social media , neuroscience
Spousal bereavement involves a social network crisis. The individual's response is influenced by prebereavement personality factors and preexisting social network characteristics. The impact of the loss on the individual and other network members, and the presence or absence of concurrent stressors, will determine the “goodness of fit” between the support offered and the needs of the bereaved and perception of the environment as helpful or unhelpful. An inadequate social network is associated with high distress over the course of bereavement. Intervention aimed at increasing social support can decrease the distress of bereavement.