Associations of Social Support and 8-Year Follow-Up Depressive Symptoms: Differences in African American and White Caregivers

Abstract

The present study used data from the Alzheimer's Study of Emotions in Caregivers (ASEC) to evaluate perceptions of social support assessed at baseline, as well as changes in social support assessed at a follow-up 8 years later, as predictors of symptoms of change in depression, with a focus on race as a potential moderator of these relationships. Specifically, multiple regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, income, education, race, living arrangement of care recipient at baseline, death of care recipient, the Cultural Justification for Caregiving Scale, and baseline depressive symptoms were conducted to assess baseline social support ratings, as well as the change in social support over time as a predictor of depression at follow-up—with a focus on moderation by race. Baseline social support (F(1,77) = 7.60, p = .008) was associated with fewer depressive symptoms at follow-up for all participants. The change in social support over time was also related to depressive symptoms, with effects moderated by race (F(1,77) = 7.97, p = .007), such that when support decreased over time depressive symptoms at follow-up were higher for Whites, as compared with African Americans, whereas when social support increased over time depressive symptoms tended to be similar for both groups. These findings indicate that research designed to plan interventions in caregivers must not ignore potential racial differences with regard to the effects of caregiving on mental health.

Keywords:

• caregiving
• depressive symptoms
• race
• social support

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grant # IIRG-08–89565 from the Alzheimer's Association, R01 AG19605 from the National Institute on Aging with co-funding by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the National Institute of Mental Health, P01HL36587 from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, The Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers grant P30 AG028716, and the Duke Behavioral Medicine Research Center. We thank Jaye Efland and Shirley Austin for their excellent staff work on study, Robin French for programming and data management, and Michael A. Babyak, PhD, for statistical consultation.