SynthesisPloS one2018
Social support and subjective burden in caregivers of adults and older adults: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 117 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
117 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Coping, Subjective Burden and Mental Health in Family Carers of Dependent Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis.Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing · 2026Pooled it
- Conceptualizing Family Caregivers' Use of Community Support Services: A Scoping Review.The Gerontologist · 2024Pooled it
- Exploring concepts and trends in informal caregiver burden: systematic review using citation network and content analysis.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2023Pooled it
- Diabetes Mellitus Family Assessment Instruments: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- The Protective Role of Social Support Sources and Types Against Depression in Caregivers: A Meta-Analysis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- When Family Life Contributes to Cancer Caregiver Burden in Palliative Care.Journal of family nursing · 2023Trial
- Sequential mediation of social resources, affiliate stigma, loneliness, and positive aspects of caregiving among Chinese and Korean American dementia caregivers.International journal of nursing sciences · 2026Article
- Kinship, gender, and the social networks of caregivers for older adults.The Gerontologist · 2026Article
- Comparing mental health predictors among child and older adult caregivers in Canada: A convergent mixed methods study.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2026Article
- Examining the daily experiences of parents caring for children with rare neurogenetic conditions using over 18,000 ecological momentary assessments.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Illness Representations and Quality of Life Among Informal Cancer Caregivers: Examining the Role of Social Support.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Differential association between perceived social support and andropause symptoms by psychological distress level in employed men.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- A study of the mediating role of coping styles on social support and caregiving burden among family caregivers of older adults with disabilities in China.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Burden and well-being among dementia caregivers in Puerto Rico: the role of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Dyadic Risk and Protective Factors of Caregiver Burden Among Partners of Patients With Advanced Cancer: A Network Approach.Psycho-oncology · 2026Article
- Caregiver burden and psychosocial outcomes in owners of dogs with chronic paresis and paralysis compared with owners of healthy dogs.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Article
- Caregiver burden in forensic mental health settings: social impacts on caregivers of individuals with severe mental disorders.Psychiatry, psychology, and law : an interdisciplinary journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law · 2026Article
- Examining Social Support and Digital Literacy Among Caregivers of People Living With Dementia Receiving Hospice Services.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2025Article
57 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite the generally accepted belief that social support improves caregiver adjustment in general and subjective burden in particular, the literature shows mixed findings, and a recent review concluded that the predictive strength of caregiver social support in determining caregiver burden is less evident, due to the conceptual diversity of this determinant.
objectiveThe purpose of this review is to analyse the relationship of perceived and received social support with subjective burden among informal caregivers of an adult or older adult.
methodsA systematic search was carried out up to September 2017 in the following databases: MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO), Scopus and ISI Proceedings, and a meta-analysis was performed with the results of the selected and included studies.
resultsFifty-six studies were included in the meta-analysis, which provided 46 independent comparisons for perceived support and 16 for received support. Most of these studies were cross-sectional. There was a moderate, negative association of perceived social support on subjective burden (r = -0.36; CI 95% = -0.40, -0.32) and a very small, negative association of received support on subjective burden (r = -0.05; CI 95% = -0.095, -0.001).
conclusions1) perceived and received support are not redundant constructs, 2) the relationships between social support and subjective burden depend on whether the social support is measured as perceived or received, 3) the relationship of perceived social support with subjective burden has a bigger effect size than that of received social support, the relation between received support and subjective burden being clinically irrelevant, 4) perceived social support may be a good predictor of subjective burden. IMPLICATIONS OF KEY
findingsOur findings broadly support interventions promoting social support in caregivers to prevent or alleviate subjective burden, and specifically, to intervene on the promotion of perceived social support more than on the promotion of received social support when preventing or alleviating burden.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.