The influence of parental and peer-support on physical complaints in a student population

The mechanisms mediating the connection between school-specific stressors and physical complaints, indicating psychosocial strain, are still unclear. Assuming that social support is an important part of the coping process, it is hypothesized that different sources of social support may have varying effects on the degree of physical complaints. The sample consisted of 326 students - 182 girls and 144 boys - in grades 6 and 8. On average, female adolescents reported physical symptoms to a greater extent than did male adolescents. Confronted with school-specific stressors, girls showed a higher willingness to make use of peer-support. For boys and girls a high degree of anticipated peer-support was linked to a higher extent of physical complaints. Parental support buffered the effect of bad grades regarding the extend of physical complaints only for girls. The assumption of a longitudinal link between social support, school achievement, and the degree of physical complaints one year later was not supported. Results emphasize the importance of further research regarding the functions of different sources of social support for boys and girls.