ANTECEDENTS
Social network. Social network is defined in the literature as the vehicle through which social support is provided (Kahn 1979, Kahn & Antonucci 1980, Hogue 1985).
Gottlieb (1983) and Berkman (1984) portray the social network work as an interactive field of person who provide the give and take of helpfulness and protection.
Different from social support, social network is the structure of interactive process; social support is the function.
Kahn and Antonucci caution that the presence of a large network does not indicate large amounts of support.