Inagaki Tristen K, Eisenberger Naomi I
Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Psychophysiology. 2016 Apr;53(4):427-35. doi: 10.1111/psyp.12578. Epub 2015 Nov 17.
Social support is a major contributor to the link between social ties and beneficial health outcomes. Research to date has focused on how receiving support from others might be good for us; however, we know less about the health effects of giving support to others. Based on prior work in animals showing that stimulating neural circuitry important for caregiving behavior can reduce sympathetic-related responses to stressors, it is possible that, in humans, giving to others can reduce stressor-evoked sympathetic nervous system responding, which has implications for health outcomes. To test the effect of giving support on the physiological stress response, participants either wrote a supportive note to a friend (support-giving condition) or wrote about their route to school/work (control condition) before undergoing a standard laboratory-based stress task. Physiological responses (heart rate, blood pressure, salivary alpha-amylase, salivary cortisol), and self-reported stress were collected throughout the protocol. In line with hypotheses, support giving (vs. control) reduced sympathetic-related responses (systolic blood pressure and alpha-amylase) to the stressor. No effects of support giving were found on self-reported psychological stress or cortisol levels. Results add to existing knowledge of the pathways by which support giving may lead to health benefits and highlight the contribution of giving to others in the broader social support-health link.
社会支持是社会关系与有益健康结果之间联系的一个主要促成因素。迄今为止的研究主要集中在从他人那里获得支持对我们有益的方面；然而，我们对向他人提供支持对健康的影响了解较少。基于之前在动物身上的研究表明，刺激对照顾行为很重要的神经回路可以减少对应激源的交感神经相关反应，在人类中，向他人提供支持可能会减少应激源诱发的交感神经系统反应，这对健康结果有影响。为了测试提供支持对生理应激反应的影响，参与者在接受基于实验室的标准应激任务之前，要么给朋友写一封支持性的便条（提供支持组），要么写下他们上学/上班的路线（对照组）。在整个实验过程中收集生理反应（心率、血压、唾液α-淀粉酶、唾液皮质醇）和自我报告的压力。与假设一致，提供支持（与对照组相比）减少了对应激源的交感神经相关反应（收缩压和α-淀粉酶）。未发现提供支持对自我报告的心理压力或皮质醇水平有影响。研究结果补充了关于提供支持可能带来健康益处的途径的现有知识，并突出了在更广泛的社会支持与健康联系中向他人提供支持的作用。
