analysis of the functional nature of adolescents' supportive relationships

A sample of 359 seventh and eighth graders completed the Social Support Functions Inventory to describe the amount of support they received in eight separate dimensions of social support from mothers, fathers, nonparental adults, and peers who helped them cope with a recent stress event. Similar levels of support were found across several of the relationship categories, suggesting that, with the exceptions of distraction and substance use, which are primarily available from peers, support functions are not highly specialized in particular relationships. Additional analyses (one that examined support from mothers and one that examined support from peers) found that the amount of support provided by a given relationship can vary considerably when that same relationship appears in different network structures. These findings suggest that the functionality of a supportive relationship should not be studied independent of the network structure in which it is embedded.