When obtaining support is important. The relationship between optimism, disclosure, and peer support in a sample of young women

Previous research has shown a positive association between optimism and perceived social support. In this research the authors sought to uncover conditions and mechanisms that could influence this relationship; the authors were specifically interested in how these issues affect peer support in university-age women, for whom it is particularly important. The authors made three principal findings: (1) that perceived peer support is high when optimism towards peer support is high; perceived peer support is lowest when the value placed on negative events is high but optimism is low; (2) that participants' tendencies to disclose their troubles could also be explained by the above pattern; and (3) that disclosure mediated the association between the perceived peer support with the interaction between optimism and value. Taken generally, disclosure can be explained by the independent and interdependent effects of optimism and value, which in turn can explain when peer support is perceived.