Explain how buffering contributes to health outcomes

A mechanism by which social support contributes to health outcomes is indirectly through buffering. Social support may intervene between a stressful event and a person's stress response; the support buffers the impact of the event. Buffering eliminates or reduces effects of stressful experiences by promoting less threatening interpretations of adverse events and effective coping strategies. The belief that others will provide helpful resources may increase one's perceived ability to cope with demands, changing the appraisal of the situation and lowering its effective stress. The belief that support is readily available may also improve emotional and physiological responses to the event or alter unhealthy behavioral responses. For example, researchers found that both student and adult groups reported more symptoms of depression and of physical ailments under stress but that these associations were lessened among those who perceived that support was available from their social networks. The receipt of actual support also plays a role in buffering the impact of stress. Support may provide a solution to the stressful problem, reduce the importance of the problem, or provide a distraction.?