Family and Nonfamily Components of Social Support as Buffers of Stress for College Women1

Two samples of college women (N= 273 and N= 99) were administered a stress inventory, a social support scale, and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Separate measures of family and nonfamily social support were obtained as well as separate measures of types of social support: social availability, tangible support, information/guidance, and emotional support. With the total symptom score used as the dependent variable, nonfamily social support showed a clear buffering effect on life stress in both samples, whereas family social support showed significant buffering only in Sample 2. Multiple regression analyses indicated that nonfamily emotional support was more effective as a buffer than family social support in both samples. There were no clear differences among the types of social support in their buffering effectiveness All four symptom subscales showed buffering trends, but depression was the only subscale that was significantly buffered in both samples by nonfamily social support. The greater effectiveness of nonfamily social support as a buffer of stress is discussed in terms of the possible greater availablity, both physically and psychologically, of nonfamily friends for late adolescent and young adult women.     

Dexamethasone Does Not Prevent Seven-Day ADX-Induced Apoptosis in the Dentate Gyrus of the Rat Hippocampus

Long-term adrenalectomy (ADX) is known to result in apoptosis within the dentate gyrus of the rat hippocampus. While the underlying mechanism is still unclear, adrenal steroids appear to play a pivotal role in granule cell survival, as administration of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) agonists, corticosterone and aldosterone, to ADX rats results in protection against the ADX-induced effect. The consequence of administration of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) agonists, dexamethasone and RU28362, however, is less clear, and either complete or only partial protection for the ADX animal has been reported. This study investigated further the role played by GR in the degenerative process. After establishing the characteristics of seven-day ADX-induced apoptosis in the young male Wistar rat, the effect of chronically-implanted, subcutaneous pellets containing various doses of dexamethasone and corticosterone, on ADX-induced apoptosis was studied. Both high and low doses of corticosterone were found to be protective. In contrast to some other studies, however, neither dose of dexamethasone had any obvious protective effect and rather seemed to increase apoptosis in dentate gyrus of intact animals. Intracerebroventricular infusion of dexamethasone for seven days was also found to be ineffective in preventing apoptosis, demonstrating that it is occupation of MR, rather than GR, which is crucial to dentate gyrus granule cell survival.     

Reaping the Rewards of Diversity: The Role of Identity Integration

How does diversity affect individuals and the groups in which they are embedded? This article examines this question using recent theory and research on Identity Integration (II). II refers to an individual's perceptions about whether two distinct social identities, or social groups to which individuals belong, are viewed as compatible (high II) or not (low II). A review of extant research suggests that individuals with high II are better at simultaneously accessing multiple identities and identity‐related knowledge and have improved well‐being and social outcomes. Expanding on this work, we argue that individuals who have higher II, and social collectives that foster II within their members, are more likely to reap the benefits of diversity.