Social Support in the Context of Caregiving: Husbands' Provision of Support to Wives Involved in Parent Care

The purpose of this study was to identify ways in which social support is related to the caregiving stress and well-being experienced by adult daughter caregivers. The study focused on a specific source of support, caregivers' husbands, and included reports from 126 caregivers and their husbands. Main and buffering effects of four types of support (emotional and instrumental support provided to the caregiver and to her parent) were tested, and caregiver's level of optimism was controlled. Results were similar for caregivers' and husbands' accounts of support. Buffering effects were found only for physical health, whereas effects opposite those predicted by the buffering hypothesis were detected for positive affect. A main effect was found in nearly all analyses of marital satisfaction. No main or buffering effects of support were detected for depression. Findings highlight the complexity of supportive exchanges by illustrating the simultaneous operation of different types of support and their distinctive impact on the caregiving stress and wellbeing relationship.