Social support is not enough to buffer the effects of stressors on substance use at midlife

The present study explored whether social support buffered associations between individual economic and non-economic chronic stressors and community disadvantage and past month substance use in middle adulthood. We analyzed survey and census tract data from a national sample of <i>N</i> = 1541 adults ages 40-61 (56.4% women and 31.3% men). High economic and chronic stressors and low social support were associated with high substance use, but tests of moderation did not support the buffering hypothesis. Instead, the combination of individual economic stressors and community disadvantage was linked to elevated substance use.