 Social support—longing to belongCynthia A. Lietz and Breanna M. Carpenter Lietz Chapter 4 in How to Build Resilience in College Students, 2026, pp 39-50 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: Social support, the practical and emotional care that is given and received, is considered the most important protective factor when seeking to activate or cultivate the process of resilience. In this chapter, we define practical support as meeting basic needs. For example, when students are first transitioning to college, the best way to support them might involve helping to find housing or providing scholarship funding to ensure they have what they need to be successful. With that said, once basic needs are met, many students will also need emotional support. This involves active listening, communicating unconditional positive regard, and providing encouragement when a student is noticing imposter syndrome or is feeling overwhelmed at a busy time of the semester. Both practical and emotional support are essential when building resilience in college students. We also discuss the benefits of not just receiving support but also the idea that giving support, or helping others, is good for students as well. The chapter closes with one student's personal story of resilience that highlights the protective factor of social support. Keywords: Resilience; College students; Social support (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:24725_4 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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