Psychosocial models of the role of social support in the etiology of physical disease.

Reviews the research on the relations between social support and morbidity and between social support and mortality. Conceptualizations of social support used in the existing literature are described, and alternative explanations of how each of these conceptualizations of the social environment could influence the etiology of physical disease are offered. The psychological mediators (e.g., health relevant cognitions, affect, health behaviors) as well as biologic links (e.g., neuroendocrine links to immune and cardiovascular function) are addressed.