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The Impact of Formal and Informal Support on Health in the Context of Caregiving Stress
Author(s) -
Gouin JeanPhilippe,
Estrela Chelsea,
Desmarais Kim,
Barker Erin T.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/fare.12183
Subject(s) - social support , context (archaeology) , psychology , autism spectrum disorder , autism , clinical psychology , gerontology , medicine , developmental psychology , social psychology , paleontology , biology
Caregiving stress increases risk for poor health. The overproduction of inflammatory markers is a core process contributing to this effect. In this study the authors investigated whether formal and informal social support act as protective factors against stress‐induced immune dysregulation. Fifty‐six parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder completed questionnaires on formal support services, informal social support, self‐rated health, and daily somatic symptoms, and they provided a blood sample for analysis of C‐reactive protein ( CRP ), a biomarker of inflammation. The results indicated that greater informal social support was associated with lower CRP and that a higher number of formal support services received by the family was related to better self‐rated health, fewer daily somatic symptoms, and lower CRP . Moreover, the impact of support services on the parents' CRP levels increased with child age. These findings highlight the role of formal and informal support in protecting the health of individuals facing caregiving stress across the life course.