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Persons who feel supported enjoy a variety of benefits, both psychological and physical (Cohen, 1992; Sarason, Sarason, & Gurung, 1997; Taylor, 2007). These benefits include fewer complications during pregnancy and childbirth (Collins, Dunkel-Schetter, Lobel, & Scrimshaw, 1993), faster recovery following surgery (eg, Helgeson, 1991), and fewer depressive symptoms (Schwarzer & Leppin, 1992). Benefits such as these are thought to help explain why persons in sustained intimate relationships live longer and in better health (Berkman & Syme, 1979; House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988). Patterns of support are hypothesized to influence perceptions that a partner will be responsive to one’s needs and will make efforts to “be there” in times of need (Reis, Clark, & Holmes, 2004), and this psychological perception provides benefits even when support is not evident. Given the robustness of the findings associated with overall support patterns and perceived responsiveness of partners, one would think that individual instances of daily support provision would be related to immediate health and mental health outcomes. However, a number of studies have reported that specific supportive behaviors either have no positive effect on well-being (Barrera, 1986; Bolger, Foster, Vinokur, & Ng, 1996), or may even have a negative effect on the recipient (Sandler & Barrera, 1984; Bolger, Zuckerman, & Kessler, 2000; Vella, Kamarck, & Shiffman, 2008). The contrast of findings on perceived availability of support and those on the effects of reports of specific support behaviors (which we will call support transactions) remains one of the important puzzles in the …