Only scant literature has focused on social support in Parkinson’s disease (PD) caregivers, and no studies to date have examined resilience in this population, despite both variables having been shown to be important in other caregiving populations. As a result, the purpose of the current study was to construct and validate a theoretical structural equation model whereby social support is associated with higher levels of resilience in PD caregivers and increased resilience is related to decreased mental health symptoms. Two hundred fifty three PD caregivers from two clinics in the United States and Mexico completed self-report measures of these constructs. Results suggested that the hypothesized pattern was robustly supported with the structural equation model showing generally good fit indices. Higher levels of social support were associated with increased resilience, which in turn was associated with reduced mental health symptoms. Resilience partially mediated social support’s effect on mitigating mental health symptoms. The model explained 11% of the variance in resilience and 35% in mental health symptoms. These findings have implications for future research on the development and tailoring of interventions to improve social support, resilience, and mental health in PD caregivers.
This paper examines social networks and social support among poor elderly ill in Guadalajara, Mexico. We interviewed 40 hospitalized elderly patients. The mean size of social networks was 7.5, basically involving women, multiple generations, and members of the extended family. Emotional support was more frequent than other types of social support. Elderly women had larger social networks and received more social support than men. Married elderly also had larger social networks and more social support than single patients. There were no differences between age and living arrangements with social networks and social support. Future studies are needed on the social and cultural environment of social support for the elderly.
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