ABSTRACT
Of the many functions served by families, social support is among the most important. In this chapter, a selective review will be provided of social support in three kinds of family relationships: marital, parent-child, and sibling. Marital support and sibling support differ somewhat from parent-child support in that the former involves transactions between peers;whereas the latter involves transactions between individualswith definite differences in power, resources, and ability. Thus, support in marital and sibling relationships is more bidirectional than that between parent and child, although children can serve support functions for their parents, especially as they enter adolescence. Hundreds of articles have been written about spousal support. Fewer have been written about parent-child support, and especially few have been written about support between siblings. We will highlight three themes in our discussion of support within each of the three kinds of family relationships. First, we will examine the benefits that are associated with support. Next, we will discuss determinants of effective support and barriers that prevent support exchanges. Finally, we will offer recommendations for future research on social support in families. In line with the theme of this book, links to communication will be made wherever possible.
For some theorists, social support is the ongoing fulfillment by others of basic interpersonal needs (Kaplan, Cassel, & Gore, 1977; Lin, 1986). For others, social support is the fulfillment of more specific time-limited needs that arise as the result of adverse life events or circumstances (House, 1981; Rook, 1984). Regardless of the extent to which adversity is a precondition for social support to occur, theorists generally agree on the kinds of acts or “functions” that constitute support. In this paper, social support is defined as verbal communication or behavior that is responsive to another’s needs and serves the functions of comfort, encouragement, reassurance of caring, and/or the promotion of effective problem solving through information or tangible assistance.
