Cohen S
Department of Psychology, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
Health Psychol. 1988;7(3):269-97. doi: 10.1037//0278-6133.7.3.269.
Although there has been a substantial effort to establish the beneficial effects of social support on health and well-being, relatively little work has focused on how social support influences physical health. This article outlines possible mechanisms through which support systems may influence the etiology of physical disease. I begin by reviewing research on the relations between social support and morbidity and between social support and mortality. I distinguish between various conceptualizations of social support used in the existing literature and provide alternative explanations of how each of these conceptualizations of the social environment could influence the etiology of physical disease. In each case, I address the psychological mediators (e.g., health relevant cognitions, affect, and health behaviors) as well as biologic links (e.g., neuroendocrine links to immune and cardiovascular function). I conclude by proposing conceptual and methodological guidelines for future research in this area, highlighting the unique contributions psychologists can make to this inherently interdisciplinary endeavor.
尽管人们已经付出了巨大努力来确立社会支持对健康和幸福的有益影响，但相对而言，很少有研究关注社会支持如何影响身体健康。本文概述了支持系统可能影响身体疾病病因的潜在机制。我首先回顾关于社会支持与发病率以及社会支持与死亡率之间关系的研究。我区分了现有文献中使用的社会支持的各种概念化，并对社会环境的每种概念化如何影响身体疾病的病因提供了不同的解释。在每种情况下，我都探讨了心理中介因素（如与健康相关的认知、情感和健康行为）以及生物学联系（如与免疫和心血管功能的神经内分泌联系）。最后，我提出了该领域未来研究的概念和方法指南，强调了心理学家在这一本质上跨学科的努力中可以做出的独特贡献。
