Work

The Association Between Perceived Social Support and Family Hardiness: The Mediating Role of Benefit Finding Among Primary Caregivers of Patients with Meige Syndrome

Year: 2026

Type: article

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. Keywords: caregivers, meige syndrome, social support, family hardiness, psychological adaptation

Source: Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare

DOI: 10.2147/jmdh.s640755