Drentea Patricia, Clay Olivio J, Roth David L, Mittelman Mary S
Department of Sociology, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2006 Aug;63(4):957-67. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.02.020. Epub 2006 Apr 17.
Those who provide care at home for a spouse with Alzheimer's disease (AD) endure considerable challenges, including social isolation and increasing caregiving responsibilities. We examine the extent to which an intervention that helps spouse-caregivers mobilize their social support network, helps them better adapt to the caregiving role. We used detailed social support information collected from 200 spouse-caregivers participating in a randomized, controlled trial of enhanced social support services in the USA. Using random effects regression models, we found that individuals in the intervention group reported higher levels of satisfaction with their social support network over the first 5 years of the intervention than those in the support group. Higher levels of emotional support, more visits, and having more network members to whom they felt close were all individually predictive of longitudinal changes in social support network satisfaction. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of having psychological respite when caregivers spend their days in the home and are isolated.
那些在家照顾患有阿尔茨海默病（AD）配偶的人面临着诸多挑战，包括社会隔离和日益增加的照顾责任。我们研究了一项帮助配偶照顾者调动其社会支持网络的干预措施在多大程度上能帮助他们更好地适应照顾角色。我们使用了从200名参与美国一项强化社会支持服务随机对照试验的配偶照顾者那里收集到的详细社会支持信息。通过随机效应回归模型，我们发现干预组的个体在干预的前5年中对其社会支持网络的满意度高于支持组。更高水平的情感支持、更多的探访以及有更多他们感觉亲近的网络成员，都分别预示着社会支持网络满意度的纵向变化。最后，我们讨论了照顾者整日居家且处于隔离状态时获得心理缓解的重要性。
