Helpful Actions of Close Friends to Personal Problems and Distress

Interviews with 26 participants produced 32 responses from close friends said to be helpful in coping with personal problems and distress. The presence and helpfulness of these 32 actions were rated by 150 and 156 volunteers respectively for these two situations. Separate factor analyses of these responses resulted in three factors called Acceptance, Guidance, and Reassurance, which were used to summarise the data into three scales. Acceptance was seen as being the most common and the most helpful reaction to both these situations. It was also the only factor which was significantly positively correlated with the outcome of such support in both situations and with psychological well-being as assessed by self-esteem, even when the attributed helpfulness of these factors was controlled. Contrary to expectations, responses to the two situations did not differ, apart from Guidance being judged to be slightly more helpful for personal problems than for personal distress.