This study examined whether positive and negative social ties moderate the effects of negative daily events on psychological distress of 110 community-dwelling elders age 60–89. In accord with the stress-buffering hypothesis, the effect of negative daily events on psychological distress significantly (p < .05) decreased as positive social ties increased. Contrary to the stress-amplifying hypothesis, negative social ties did not interact with negative daily events to influence psychological distress, but instead, had a significant (p < .01) additive effect on it.
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Okun et al. (1990) studied this question.