[Social support and mental health: concept, measures, recent studies as well as implications for clinicians]

This article's first objective is to better situate the concept of social support within the vast field of social relations. The authors then describe theoretical models allowing to explain the importance of social support in mental health as well as the implications within the context of the intervention, the various measures of social support, their respective values and the major instruments which have been developed in order to apprehend them. Recent studies then allow to illustrate the narrow links between mental health and social support identified in population and clinical studies. In conclusion, the authors present interventions that favor the development of social support and propose recommendations for clinicians.