{"title":"“They Understand What You’re Going Through”: Experientially Similar Others, Anticipatory Stress, and Depressive Symptoms","authors":"Matthew K. Grace","doi":"10.1177/2156869320910773","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"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.","PeriodicalId":46146,"journal":{"name":"Society and Mental Health","volume":"11 1","pages":"20 - 37"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2020-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/2156869320910773","citationCount":"7","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Society and Mental Health","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/2156869320910773","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SOCIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 7
Abstract
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.
期刊介绍:
Official journal of the ASA Section on the Sociology of Mental Health. Society and Mental Health (SMH) publishes original and innovative peer-reviewed research and theory articles that link social structure and sociocultural processes with mental health and illness in society. It will also provide an outlet for sociologically relevant research and theory articles that are produced in other disciplines and subfields concerned with issues related to mental health and illness. The aim of the journal is to advance knowledge in the sociology of mental health and illness by publishing the leading work that highlights the unique perspectives and contributions that sociological research and theory can make to our understanding of mental health and illness in society.