(Too) Anxious to help? Social support provider anxiety and cardiovascular function

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Health Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Received social support (SS) effects are less consistent than perceived SS.
• Provider factors, like anxiety, may influence SS effectiveness.
• The dyadic nature of support suggests provider anxiety impacts recipients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the effects of social support (SS) provider anxiety on cardiovascular reactivity.
• To investigate how provider anxiety influences the effectiveness of received SS in unacquainted dyads during acute stress.

Main Methods:

• Laboratory study involving 148 participants in unacquainted dyads.
• Participants were assigned support roles and randomized to low or high provider anxiety conditions.
• Cardiovascular reactivity (blood pressure) was measured during acute stress.

Main Results:

• Social support (SS) provider anxiety led to increased blood pressure reactivity.
• Higher provider anxiety was associated with less recovery toward baseline diastolic blood pressure.
• Provider anxiety diminished the effectiveness of received social support.

Conclusions:

• Provider anxiety contributes to less effective social support (SS) for recipients.
• Providing and receiving support under high provider anxiety may incur health costs.
• Anxiety in social support providers can negatively affect recipient health outcomes.