Abstract
The purposes of this study were to propose a definition of social support as supportive and helping behavior by significant others, and to indicate the importance of identifying specific relationships between the receiver and the provider of support using the subjects of undergraduate students.
In study 1, a new measure of perceived availavility of social support based on specific relationships (DSSI) was designed, and its factor structure and reliability were examined. The results showed that DSSI contained four factors (emotional support, advice and guidance, practical support, and behavioral interactions) and had good internal consistency.
In study 2, subjects completed DSSI and two measures of psychological distress (depression and loneliness). The main results were that supports from father and mother were negatively correlated with depression, whereas support from same-sex friends were mainly correlated with loneliness. The implications of these findings for the future directions of the study on social support were discussed.
