Presence of support has repeatedly been linked to good long-term health outcomes based on demonstrations of better immune function, lower blood pressures, and reduced mortality (among others). Despite a massive literature on the benefits of support, there is surprisingly little hard evidence about how, and how well, social support interventions work. Using a computerized search strategy, 100 studies that evaluated the efficacy of such interventions were located. The presenting problems ranged from cancer, loneliness, weight loss, and substance abuse to lack in parenting skills, surgery, and birth preparation. For the purpose of review and evaluation, studies were subdivided into (1) group vs. individual interventions, (2) professionally led vs. peer-provided treatment, and (3) interventions where an increase of network size or perceived support was the primary target vs. those where building social skills (to facilitate support creation) was the focus. On the whole, this review provided some support for the overall usefulness of social support interventions. However, because of the large variety of existing different treatment protocols and areas of application, there is still not enough evidence to conclude which interventions work best for what problems. Specific methodological and conceptual difficulties that plague this area of research and directions for future research are discussed.

中文翻译：

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社会支持干预措施：它们有效吗？

基于更好的免疫功能，更低的血压和更低的死亡率的证明（在其他方面），支持的存在已多次与良好的长期健康结果联系在一起。尽管有大量关于支持的好处的文献，但是令人惊讶的是，几乎没有确凿的证据证明社会支持干预的工作方式和效果。使用计算机搜索策略，找到了100项评估此类干预效果的研究。目前存在的问题范围从癌症，孤独感，体重减轻和药物滥用到缺乏育儿技能，手术和分娩准备。为了进行审查和评估，将研究分为（1）组vs.个人干预；（2）专业领导vs.同伴治疗；（3）以扩大网络规模或获得支持为主要目标的干预措施，而以建立社交技能（以促进支持创造为重点）的干预措施为重点。总体而言，这项审查为社会支持干预措施的整体有效性提供了一些支持。但是，由于现有的不同治疗方案和应用领域种类繁多，因此仍然没有足够的证据来总结哪种干预措施对哪些问题最有效。讨论了困扰该领域的具体方法论和概念上的困难以及未来研究的方向。由于存在各种不同的治疗方案和应用领域，因此仍然没有足够的证据来总结哪种干预措施对哪些问题最有效。讨论了困扰该领域的具体方法论和概念上的困难以及未来研究的方向。由于存在各种不同的治疗方案和应用领域，因此仍然没有足够的证据来总结哪种干预措施对哪些问题最有效。讨论困扰该领域的具体方法论和概念上的困难以及未来研究的方向。