Past research demonstrates that experientially similar others—people who have confronted the same stressor or who occupy the same social role—are uniquely equipped to provide empathic understanding and tailored coping strategies to individuals navigating comparable, taxing circumstances. Using the case of premedical education, fixed-effects regression analyses of egocentric network data (N = 286) indicate that premeds whose support networks include a greater proportion of premedical peers over time experience fewer depressive symptoms. However, among premeds who report greater anticipatory stress about failing to achieve medical school admission, the presence of additional peers in support networks strengthens the detrimental effects of anticipatory stress. Qualitative data (n = 39) shed light on this empirical puzzle. Although peers offer a broad spectrum of support functions, they can also accentuate stressors or serve as a basis for negative social comparison. These findings introduce new considerations for theorizing the role of similar other support in the stress process.

过去的研究表明，经历相似的其他人（面临相同压力或承担相同社会角色的人）具有独特的能力，可以为在可比的，艰苦的环境中航行的人们提供移情理解和量身定制的应对策略。在以医学教育为例的情况下，以自我为中心的网络数据的固定效应回归分析（N = 286）表明，随着时间的推移，其支持网络包括较大比例的医学同龄人的医学知识出现的抑郁症状较少。但是，在对未能获得医学院录取而预期承受更大压力的医学专家中，支持网络中其他同伴的出现增强了预期压力的有害影响。定性数据（n = 39）阐明了这一经验难题。尽管同龄人提供了广泛的支持功能，但他们也可能加剧压力源或作为负面社会比较的基础。这些发现为理论上其他类似支持在压力过程中的作用引入了新的考虑。