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Mental health in U.S. adults: The role of positive social support and social negativity in personal relationships

The Catholic University of America, Bertera{at}cua.edu

This study examines positive social support, social negativity, and anxiety and mood disorders in a random sample of 4688 adults aged 21-54 years from the National Comorbidity Survey (1990-1992). Social negativity with spouses, relatives, and friends had a strong positive association with the number of anxiety and mood disorder episodes. One surprising finding was that positive support was not as strongly associated with the number of anxiety and mood disorder episodes as social negativity. Positive support from spouses or friends was not associated with a lower number of episodes of either anxiety or mood disorders. Only positive support from relatives was associated with a lower number of episodes of both anxiety and mood disorders. These results may be due to variation by source in the link between support and negativity. Given that much previous research has focused on the role of positive social support, these findings demonstrate the significant impact that negative social exchanges can have on mental health.

Key Words: anxiety • depression • gender • mental health • negative social relationships • positive social support • race/ethnicity

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