Table 2.

Summary of findings on associations of informal social support and spinal pain.

Outcome	Study	Area of assessment	Type of support	Evidence of effect	Study quality
Occurrence	Khatun et al.	Neck and back	Emotional	+ (females only)	High
	Khatun et al.	Neck and back	Network	×	High
	Larsen et al.	LBP	Network	×	Medium
	Linton et al.	LBP	Not specified	×	Medium
	Muramatsu et al.	LBP	Instrumental	+	High
	Muramatsu et al.	LBP	Emotional	−	High
	Power et al.	LBP	Emotional	×	High
	Power et al.	LBP	Instrumental support	×	High
Prognosis	Hurwitz et al.	Neck pain	Emotional	+ (reduction in pain over time)	High
	Hurwitz et al.	Neck pain	Emotional	× (disability)	High
	Hurwitz et al.	Neck pain	Instrumental	+ (reduction in disability over time)	High
	Hurwitz et al.	Neck pain	Instrumental	× (pain)	High
	Koleck et al.	LBP	Network	× (recovery)	Low
	Muramatsu et al.	LBP	Instrumental	× (recovery)	High
	Muramatsu et al.	LBP	Emotional	− (decrease in recovery)	High
Cross-section (spinal pain outcomes)	Blozik et al.	Neck pain	Global	×	Medium
	Isacsson et al.	Neck and back	Instrumental	+	High
	Isacsson et al.	Neck and back	Network	+	High
	Isacsson et al.	Neck and back	Frequency	×	High
	Isacsson et al.	Neck and back	Emotional	×	High
	Schneider et al.	LBP	Network	×	Medium
	Skov et al.	Neck and back	Network	×	Medium
	Takeyachi et al.	LBP	Network	×	Low
	Takeyachi et al.	LBP	Frequency	×	Low
Cross-section (psychological outcomes)	Feleus et al.	Neck pain	Satisfaction/network	+ (kinesiophobia)	High
	Follick et al.	LBP	Social interaction	+ (MMPI variables)	Low
	Klapow et al.	LBP	Satisfaction	+ (low depression)	Low
	Masters et al.	LBP	Satisfaction	+ (catastrophising)	Low
	Trief et al.	LBP	Satisfaction/network	+ (low depression)	Medium

LBP (low back pain), + (significant positive effect), − (significant negative effect), × (no significant effect), MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory).