Can Male-Provided Social Support Buffer the Cardiovascular Responsivity to Stress in Men? It Depends on the Nature of the Support Provided

Loneliness, social support and cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stress

“…The CVR was associated with the functional, but not structural, indices of social support in the present study, which replicates previous findings (Craig and Deichert 2002). Structural indices have been found to be poor correlates of CVR to stress (Roy et al 1998) merely due to the limited, and sometimes misleading, information these measures provide.…”

Social support and the reactivity hypothesis: Conceptual issues in examining the efficacy of received support during acute psychological stress

“…In particular, effect sizes differed as a function of evaluation potential of the support provider (i.e., low vs. high), mode of support (i.e., silent vs. active), and type of task (i.e., speech vs. math). These findings, along with subsequent work in the area highlight the importance of the support context when assessing links between received support and laboratory stress reactivity (e.g., Craig & Deichert, 2002; Holt-Lunstad, Uchino, Smith, & Hicks, 2007; O'Donovan & Hughes, 2008; Phillips, Gallagher, & Carroll, 2009). …”

“…However, a few studies have varied the type of support provided in order to directly compare the efficacy of different types of received support (Craig & Deichert, 2002; Uno, Uchino, & Smith, 2002; Wilson, Kliewer, Bayer, Jones, Welleford, Heiney, & Sica, 1999). These studies examined the matching hypothesis in the context of gender differences in preference for support (i.e., recipient factors).…”

“…For instance, Flaherty and Richman (1989) argue that socialization processes result in women both preferring and benefiting more from the specific dimension of emotional support. Likewise, it has been argued that men may benefit more from instrumental support, especially from other men (Craig & Deichert, 2002). Results from two studies suggest that men receiving instrumental support had lower cardiovascular reactivity compared to when they received emotional support (Craig & Deichert, 2002; Wilson et al, 1999).…”

“…Likewise, it has been argued that men may benefit more from instrumental support, especially from other men (Craig & Deichert, 2002). Results from two studies suggest that men receiving instrumental support had lower cardiovascular reactivity compared to when they received emotional support (Craig & Deichert, 2002; Wilson et al, 1999). Uno and colleagues (2002) also found that women under stress showed lower cardiac output reactivity when provided with emotional support from a purely supportive friend.…”