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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1512778

Associations between perceived overload and quality of care in dementia family caregivers in China: Mediating role of familism and social support

Provisionally accepted
Ni Zou Ni Zou Chan Cai Chan Cai Xinyu Zhou Xinyu Zhou Shunian Chen Shunian Chen Jiabi Shi Jiabi Shi Chongqing Shi Chongqing Shi *
  • Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The quality of care (QoC) of people with dementia is an issue of widespread concern in public health. While perceived overload of family caregivers is thought to negatively affect QoC, the underlying mechanisms of this relationship are not well understood. This study aimed to examine the multiple mediating roles of familism and social support in the relationship between perceived overload and QoC among people with dementia (PwD) within the contemporary Chinese context.A cross-sectional study was conducted between February 2023 and October 2023 in three hospitals located in three cities in Hubei Province, China. A total of 213 PwD and their family caregivers were recruited. Participants completed a general demographic questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Overload Scale, the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), the Familism Scale (FS), and the Exemplary Care Scale (ECS). Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and the PROCESS macro.Perceived overload among family caregivers was directly related to QoC. Multiple mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between perceived overload and QoC was mediated by familism (effect: -0.111, 95% CI [-0.221, -0.034]) and social support (effect: -0.078, 95% CI [-0.163, -0.007]) both independently and serially (effect: -0.024, 95% CI [-0.054, -0.004]).Familism and social support serve as multiple mediators in the relationship between perceived overload and QoC. This underscores the importance of incorporating familism and social support into intervention strategies aimed at enhancing QoC.

    Keywords: Perceived overload, familism, social support, quality of care, Dementia, family caregivers

    Received: 17 Oct 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zou, Cai, Zhou, Chen, Shi and Shi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Chongqing Shi, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

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