Social support, widely studied as a variable that positively affects the adaptation of adolescents, is often less present in the lives of youths at risk of school failure. This study explores the social support of at-risk students, including who provides each of eight types of support, and the effects of particular types of social support on school performance outcomes. Results of analyses of data from students enrolled in Communities in Schools programs, indicate that parents and adult caretakers are major sources of social support for both middle and high school at-risk students. Analyses of school outcomes data indicate that particular types of social support are associated with different desirable school outcomes. The article presents implications for social work practice and the development of intervention strategies to enhance students' school performance and behavior.

Social support is a complex process with far-reaching implications for social work practice. This article presents a practice model of the social supportprocess, detailing its four components (i. e., provider, recipient, interaction, and outcomes), and a measure of the social support process based on the practice model and developed for clinical use. The model and clinical assessment instrument should facilitate understanding the support process and developing client interven tion strategies.

This investigation compared women's and men's desired characteristics in partners for typical short-term ('dating someone more than once' without an expectation of a short- or long-term relationship) and long-term ('dating someone for a long time' with the possibility, but not certainty, of marriage) relationships. Results indicated that (a) both women and men are more selective when selecting a long-term rather than a short-term relationship partner, and (b) women and men differ in their desired characteristics for short-term relationship partners and long-term relationship partners. The preferred characteristics of each sex support a qualified differential parental investment perspective: men see `reproductive value' (e.g., physical attractiveness) as important for potential female partners, and women look at `resource acquisition ability' (e.g., earning capacity) as important for potential male partners. While there were significant differences between men and women in their desired characteristics in short- and long-term relationship partners, there were many similarities in what they seek, such as the desire for children in long-term partners and an exciting personality in short-term and long-term partners.

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The purpose of this investigation was twofold: first, to describe the social support networks of athletes with respect to who provides what types of support and in what perceived amounts, and second, to compare the support networks of low- and high-stressed athletes. Results indicated that social support is provided by coaches, teammates, friends, and parents, and that each makes a unique contribution to the athletes’ social support network. Coaches and teammates were identified as providing types of support requiring expertise in sports, and friends and parents were identified as providing complementary types of support not requiring such expertise. Few differences were found between the social support networks of low- and high-stressed athletes.