Buffer effects and threshold effects
An alternative interpretation of nonlinearities in the relationship between social support, stress, and depression
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11054872 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hans O F Veiel (Central Institute of Mental Health 6800 Mannheim 1 West Germany, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1987 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 717-740 |
| Publication date | 1987-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Community Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0091-0562 • E-ISSN: 1573-2770 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1007/bf00919800 |
| PMID | 3326409 |
| OpenAlex | W2021945915 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 19 |
The common interpretation of statistical interactions of global measures of social support and stress in their effects on depression (the "buffer effect" of social support) as reflecting interactive processes within individuals was examined. It was argued that its adequacy depends on incorrect assumptions about the distribution of depressive symptoms within individuals over time and/or different levels of psychosocial adversity. With hypothetical data sets generated under the assumption of a threshold effect in the development of depression and of additive, rather than interactive, effects of social support and stress, it was demonstrated that spurious "buffer effects" of social support can appear in analyses of cross-sectional data. Methodological and substantive implications are discussed, and strategies for study design and data analysis are proposed that allow to assess whether empirical deviations from linearity are more adequately interpreted as a buffer or as a threshold effect
Citation · Depression (economics) · Health psychology · Interpretation (philosophy) · Library science · Linguistics · Mental health · Psychiatry · Public health · Stress (linguistics) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Community Health and Development · Computer Science · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Nursing · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
Parallels in the Study of Social Support and Social Strain
The social supports of suicide attempters
Illness‐Related Support and Negative Network Interactions
A holistic model for understanding and predicting depressive symptoms in african-american women
The Relationship Between Serious Leisure Characteristics and Subjective Well-Being of Older Adult Volunteers
Social support and health
The Stress-Buffering Role of Social Support
The health-related functions of social support
Psychosocial Assets, Life Crisis and the Prognosis of Pregnancy12
Interaction between Social Variables in Stress Research
Partialed products are interactions; partialed powers are curve components
Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis
Antecedents of Psychological Distress in Young Adults
Life Events, Social Supports, and Psychiatric Symptoms
The Effect of Social Support in Moderating the Health Consequences of Unemployment
The Estimation and Interpretation of Modifier Effects
Conceptual, Methodological, and Theoretical Problems in Studying Social Support as a Buffer Against Life Stress
Social Support, Stressful Life Events, and Illness
Substantive Theory and Statistical Interaction
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,13 |
| Citation span | 1988 - 2014 (27) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |