title: Changes in social support as mediators of the impact of a psychosocial intervention for spouse caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: The spouse caregivers of 406 patients with Alzheimer's disease were randomly assigned to an enhanced counseling and support intervention or to a usual care control condition. Structured interviews were conducted to assess changes in social support and psychosocial outcomes for the 312 caregivers who provided care in the home for at least 1 year. The number of support persons, satisfaction with the support network, and support persons' assistance with caregiving all increased significantly as a function of the intervention. Structural equation models indicated increased satisfaction with the social support network mediated a significant proportion of the intervention's impact on caregiver depression. A portion of this mediated effect was further mediated by changes in caregiver stress appraisals. Implications for strengthening intervention programs for spouse caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Center for Aging, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. droth@uab.edu
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: Mary S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mittelman
authors.forename: Olivio J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Clay
authors.forename: Alok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Madan
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Haley
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires