The mental health costs and benefits of giving social support

Abstract

Is giving support neutral, beneficial or costly to mental health? The authors identified 2 types of support-companionship and help-and conceptualized their provision as emotional labor. Companionship involves showing care to people, building feelings of happiness, pride, and belonging, whereas help involves assisting with feelings of distress, anger, and conflict and is potentially much more stressful. Using survey data (N = 398), the authors found that companionship and help showed opposite associations with support givers' mental health; companionship was associated with fewer depressive symptoms, whereas help was associated with more. Social support helps recipients cope with stress and distress, but it may also affect people who give it, with consequences depending on the type of support given.