Social support interventions and the third law of ecology.

Most of what we know about the effectiveness of social support is based on field studies of naturalistic relationships and transactions. Social support interventions, particularly those that attempt to create new support providers, stretch the limits of our knowledge base. The article by Heller et al. (1991) highlights gaps in our knowledge, suggests the importance of intimacy in support exchanges, and identifies possible limitations in trying to compensate for deficiencies in family support with new friendships.