The mediating effect of social support on the relationship between perceived stress and quality of life among shidu parents in China

Abstract

Background “Loss-of-only-child family” refers to the family in which the only child died and the mother has passed her child-bearing age. The parents who are unable to reproduce or do not foster other children are known as “shidu parents” in China. This study aimed to estimate the quality of life (QOL) and the mediating role of social support between perceived stress and QOL in Chinese shidu parents. Methods 502 shidu parents were recruited in Shenyang city. Shidu parents were asked to complete a questionnaire including the MOS item short from health survey (SF-36), the perceived stress scale-10 (PSS-10) and the functional social support questionnaire (FSSQ). Hierarchical linear regression was performed to assess the associations among perceived stress, social support and QOL. Asymptotic and resampling strategies were used to explore the mediating role of social support. Results The mean score of PCS and MCS was 64.83 ± 22.66 and 59.36 ± 21.83, respectively. Perceived stress was found to be negatively associated with both PCS (β = − 0.21, p < 0.001) and MCS (β = − 0.28, p < 0.001), while social support was positively associated with both PCS (β = 0.32, p < 0.001) and MCS (β = 0.32, p < 0.001). For shidu parents, the proportion of mediation of social support between perceived stress and QOL was 36.85% for PCS and 29.45% for MCS, respectively. Conclusions Perceived stress was associated with QOL and social support had a partially mediating effect between perceived stress and QOL in Chinese shidu parents. Low PCS and MCS of shidu parents highlight the need of timely developing interventions to reduce stress and reinforce social support to further improve their QOL.

Perceived stress moderates the relationship between family support and family quality of life among parents of children living with intellectual and developmental disabilities

“…This result is insightful given that studies (Jenaro et al, 2020;Obuna et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2021) had shown that when families perceive the caring for their member with IDD as stressful, it might precipitate psychological, social, and economic pressures on such families. Interestingly, for the participants in the study, when the perceived stress was high or average, a unit increase in family support was enough to stabilize their FQOL.…”

“…Similarly, lack of essential support from family could affect their quality of life (Alsubaie et al, 2019;Brown et al, 2006;Dey & Amponsah, 2020). More importantly, their perceived stress from their daily hassles may mediate the relation between how their family support influences their quality of life (Wang et al, 2021). However, what is unclear is to what extent will perceived stress moderate this relation.…”

The relationship between culture‐related grief beliefs, prolonged grief disorder and suicide ideation among Shidu parents in rural China

“…Affected by the one-child policy, there are a large number of Shidu parents in rural China and they are generally suffering from mental health problems (Wang, Lin, et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2020;). After losing a child, they may develop suicidal ideation or even suicidal behaviour .…”

“…These only-child families are at the risk of being Shidu families (Wang, Zhang, et al, 2021). Meanwhile, according to previous studies, the mean age of these Shidu parents are above 60 years old (Eli et al, 2020;Shi et al, 2019;Wang, Lin, et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2020). The rapid aging population will undoubtedly affect these elderly Shidu parents (Wang, Zhang, et al, 2021).…”

“…Parents who have lost their only child and are unable to conceive another child or unwilling to adopt a child are called Shidu parents in China (Wang, Lin, et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2020). From 1979 to 2015, the one-child policy in China led to a sharp increase in the number of one-child families (Wang, Lin, et al, 2021). These only-child families are at the risk of being Shidu families (Wang, Zhang, et al, 2021).…”