Help-Giving in Self-Help Groups

A longitudinal survey of members of self-help groups for families of the mentally ill in Pittsburgh examined members' perceptions about the types of help-giving activities that took place in the groups and the relationship between those activities and members' degree of satisfaction with the group. The activities that occurred most frequently, such as catharsis, explanation, and normalization, were related to nondirective, nonthreatening aspects of social support. The least frequent activities, such as confrontation or reference to group norms, were those that were more threatening and focused on behavioral change. The nondirective, nonthreatening activities were moderately correlated with members' satisfaction with the group.