Social support has been proposed to be a protective factor that buffers the losses that result from the experience of negative life events. The present study uses data from a large-scale Australian panel study (the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey) to examine how life satisfaction changes following the onset of a disabling condition and then to test whether preevent or postevent social support moderates reactions to this event. Results show that the onset of a disabling condition is associated with a large decline in life satisfaction, but these changes are not moderated by preevent social support. Postevent social support does moderate change in response to the onset of a disability, but ambiguities in the interpretation of this association must be considered.

有人提出社会支持是一种保护性因素，可以缓冲由于负面生活事件的经历而造成的损失。本研究使用来自大型澳大利亚小组研究的数据（澳大利亚家庭，收入和劳动力动态调查）来检验生活水平在残疾状况发生后如何变化，然后检验事件发生前或事件后的社会支持是否会缓解反应参加这个活动。结果表明，残疾状况的发作与生活满意度的大幅下降有关，但这些变化并未得到事前社会支持的缓解。事件后的社会支持会根据残疾的发生而做出适度的改变，但是在这种关联的解释上必须考虑到歧义。