Social support is often referred to as a near-panacea in the psychological literature. The vast majority of research is correlational. Research that experimentally tests the effects of social support on life outcomes is, in comparison, underwhelming. Reviews, on the whole, have provided some support for a positive effect of social support on a wide range of outcomes, but it is still unknown which types of social support interventions work best for which problem (Hogan, Linden, Najarian, 2002).

…More to come…