Perceived social support and ambulatory blood pressure during daily life: a meta-analysis

Perceived social support has been linked to lower rates of morbidity and mortality. However, more information is needed on the biological mechanisms potentially responsible for such links. The main aim of this paper was to conduct a meta-analytic review of the association between perceived social support and awake ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) which is linked to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The review identified 12 studies with a total of 3254 participants. The omnibus meta-analysis showed that higher perceived social support was not significantly related to lower ABP (Zr = −0.052, [ −0.11, 0.01]). In addition, there was evidence of significant bias across several indicators. Future research will be needed to explore the boundary conditions linking social support to ABP and its implications for theoretical models and intervention development.