Perceived personal networks as mediators of stress reactions

The evacuation of an Israeli community in the Sinai peninsula afforded an unusual opportunity to study the longitudinal relationships between personal network characteristics and psychosocial adjustment. Friendship network characteristics proved highly stable longitudinally but were poor predictors of long-term adjustment. The kinship network characteristics before relocation were better predictors, despite the fact that kin were not actually present in the community before relocation. These data support a hypothesis that the perception of social embeddedness rather than the actual availability of social supports mediates reactions to stressful life events.