The Association Between Perceived Social Support and Family Hardiness: The Mediating Role of Benefit Finding Among Primary Caregivers of Patients with Meige Syndrome
4 affiliations
- 1Nursing Department, The Third People’s Hospital of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China
- 2Department of Nursing, Nanjing Central Hospital, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China
- 3Operating Department, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China
- 4School of Nursing, North Henan Medical University, Xinxiang, People’s Republic of China
Abstract
Background: Meige syndrome is a rare chronic neurological disorder that places substantial caregiving demands on families. Family hardiness is a psychological resource relevant to coping with long-term stress. Although perceived social support is an important external resource, its association with family hardiness and the potential mediating role of benefit finding remain insufficiently explored. This study aimed to examine these associations and assess whether the findings were consistent with a hypothesized statistical mediation model among primary caregivers of patients with Meige syndrome.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 441 primary caregivers recruited through convenience sampling at a tertiary hospital in Henan Province, China, between June 2025 and June 2026. Data were collected using the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), Benefit Finding Scale (BFS), and Family Hardiness Index (FHI). Pearson correlations and PROCESS Model 4 with 5000 bootstrap samples were used, adjusting for sociodemographic covariates.
Results: Perceived social support was positively correlated with family hardiness (r = 0.556, P < 0.001) and benefit finding (r = 0.246, P < 0.001). Benefit finding was also positively associated with family hardiness (r = 0.296, P < 0.001). In the adjusted mediation model, perceived social support remained positively associated with family hardiness after accounting for benefit finding (B = 0.3392, P < 0.001). A significant indirect association through benefit finding was observed (B = 0.0403, bootstrap 95% CI [0.0152, 0.0684]), accounting for 10.62% of the total association.
Conclusion: Higher perceived social support was associated with greater family hardiness among primary caregivers of patients with Meige syndrome, with benefit finding showing a potential statistical mediating role. These findings may inform future caregiver support research; longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to clarify temporal and causal relationships.
Related
- The mediating role of perceived spousal support in the association between psychological crisis and psychological distress among breast cancer patients and their spouses: a longitudinal study based on an actor–partner interdependence mediation model with cross-lagged analysis
- Correlates of Caregiver Burden Among Informal Caregivers of Patients With Hematological Malignancies: The Roles of Coping, Resilience, and Perceived Social Support
- Family hardiness and associated factors among Chinese family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease: an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study.
- An exploratory factor analysis of Telugu versions of the WHO well-being index, the UCLA-loneliness scale and the perceived criticism scale in caregivers of schizophrenia patients
- The unbalanced needs and perceived supply of supportive care in family caregivers of patients with multiple myeloma: a cross-sectional study
BibTeX
@article{li2026association,
title = {{The Association Between Perceived Social Support and Family Hardiness: The Mediating Role of Benefit Finding Among Primary Caregivers of Patients with Meige Syndrome}},
author = {Meng Li and Jianhua Li and Yin Li and Qiyu Zhang and Wenling Zhang and Qiong Li and Junfan Wei and Huawei Li},
journal = {Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.2147/jmdh.s640755},
url = {https://doi.org/10.2147/jmdh.s640755},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The Association Between Perceived Social Support and Family Hardiness: The Mediating Role of Benefit Finding Among Primary Caregivers of Patients with Meige Syndrome
AU - Meng Li
AU - Jianhua Li
AU - Yin Li
AU - Qiyu Zhang
AU - Wenling Zhang
AU - Qiong Li
AU - Junfan Wei
AU - Huawei Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/31
JO - Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare
DO - 10.2147/jmdh.s640755
UR - https://doi.org/10.2147/jmdh.s640755
AB - Background: Meige syndrome is a rare chronic neurological disorder that places substantial caregiving demands on families. Family hardiness is a psychological resource relevant to coping with long-term stress. Although perceived social support is an important external resource, its association with family hardiness and the potential mediating role of benefit finding remain insufficiently explored. This study aimed to examine these associations and assess whether the findings were consistent with a hypothesized statistical mediation model among primary caregivers of patients with Meige syndrome. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 441 primary caregivers recruited through convenience sampling at a tertiary hospital in Henan Province, China, between June 2025 and June 2026. Data were collected using the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), Benefit Finding Scale (BFS), and Family Hardiness Index (FHI). Pearson correlations and PROCESS Model 4 with 5000 bootstrap samples were used, adjusting for sociodemographic covariates. Results: Perceived social support was positively correlated with family hardiness (r = 0.556, P < 0.001) and benefit finding (r = 0.246, P < 0.001). Benefit finding was also positively associated with family hardiness (r = 0.296, P < 0.001). In the adjusted mediation model, perceived social support remained positively associated with family hardiness after accounting for benefit finding (B = 0.3392, P < 0.001). A significant indirect association through benefit finding was observed (B = 0.0403, bootstrap 95% CI [0.0152, 0.0684]), accounting for 10.62% of the total association. Conclusion: Higher perceived social support was associated with greater family hardiness among primary caregivers of patients with Meige syndrome, with benefit finding showing a potential statistical mediating role. These findings may inform future caregiver support research; longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to clarify temporal and causal relationships.
SN - 1178-2390
ER -