A quantitative study of social identity, social support and perceived stress in online support groups for family caregivers.

IF 2.2 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

Journal of Health Psychology Pub Date : 2025-10-07 DOI:10.1177/13591053251377890

Rosemary Daynes-Kearney, Stephen Gallagher

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Online support groups (OSGs) may help reduce family caregiver stress, but the psychosocial pathways remain unclear. Using social identity theory, this study examined the relationships between social identity, social support and perceived stress. It was hypothesised that non-OSG members would report lower social support and higher stress than OSG members, with social support mediating the relationship between social identity and stress. A cross-sectional online survey (N = 136) assessed social support, social identity and perceived stress. No significant differences in social support or stress were found between OSG (n = 78) and non-OSG members (n = 58), though OSG members identified more strongly as caregivers (p < 0.001). Higher social identity correlated with greater social support but not lower stress. Mediation analysis showed social support indirectly linked social identity to reduced stress. Findings highlight the role of social identity in OSGs and its potential for improving caregiver well-being.

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家庭照顾者在线支持团体中社会认同、社会支持和感知压力的定量研究。

在线支持小组（osg）可能有助于减轻家庭照顾者的压力，但其社会心理途径尚不清楚。本研究运用社会认同理论，探讨了社会认同、社会支持和感知压力之间的关系。假设非OSG成员比OSG成员报告更低的社会支持和更高的压力，社会支持在社会认同和压力之间的关系中起中介作用。一项横断面在线调查（N = 136）评估了社会支持、社会认同和感知压力。OSG成员（n = 78）和非OSG成员（n = 58）在社会支持或压力方面没有发现显著差异，尽管OSG成员更强烈地认为自己是照顾者(p

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来源期刊

Journal of Health Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

7.50

自引率

3.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： ournal of Health Psychology is an international peer-reviewed journal that aims to support and help shape research in health psychology from around the world. It provides a platform for traditional empirical analyses as well as more qualitative and/or critically oriented approaches. It also addresses the social contexts in which psychological and health processes are embedded. Studies published in this journal are required to obtain ethical approval from an Institutional Review Board. Such approval must include informed, signed consent by all research participants. Any manuscript not containing an explicit statement concerning ethical approval and informed consent will not be considered.