Stress,social support and affective disorders in mothers of pre-school children — a test of the stress-buffering effect of social support

Summary The study attempted to assess the stress-buffering role of social support using data from a survey of 436 mothers from two semi-rural regions of Pennsylvania. Results indicated that women with less adequate social support were more at risk for psychiatric disorder following the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. However, contrary to earlier reports, the role of social support as a stress moderator was not substantiated vis-à-vis affective disorder.This research was supported in part by NIMH contract no. 278-79-0048 (SM).