One of the first things in the social support literature that strikes
one, perhaps I should say that confounds or even astounds one, is that
there is no consensus on the conceptualization and measurement of social
support. The term social support, and related terms such as social
integration and social networks, are often used interchangeabty to refer
to three distinct aspects of social relationships--their existence or
quantity, their formal structure, and their functional content or the
degree to which they involve flows of affect or emotional concern, instrumental
or tangible aid, information, and the like (Gottlieb, 1985;
House and Kahn, 1985). When used in more careful and restricted ways,
the term "social support" is most commonly used to refer to the last of
these aspects of relationships--their functional, content. Similarly, "social
network" is most often and appropriately used to refer to the structures
existing among dyadic ties (e.g., reciprocity, multiptexity, frequency)
or among a set of relationships (e.g., their density, homogeneity,
or boundedness). Finally, terms like "social integration" or "isolation"
usually refer to the mere existence or quantity of social relationships.'