A cross-sectional survey of social stressors, social supports, health behaviors, and arterial blood pressure and serum lipids was conducted in a Black community in the rural South to evaluate the relative strengths of the stress-buffering versus the health behavior hypothesis. Social support was measured using a culturally appropriate technique which was sensitive both to the distinction between kin and nonkin social support, and the modification of the effects of that support by generational status. Multiple regression analysis and path analysis were used to evaluate the alternative hypotheses.