The role of caregiver social networks in Alzheimer's disease

Although the theoretical importance of social networks in alleviating caregivers' mental distress when a family member has Alzheimer's disease is well-established, empirical support has been less definitive. For 58 patient-spouse caregiver dyads, we used an array of network variables within a causal model of stress. We found that: caregiver networks are associated with severity of illness but not duration; increased illness severity was associated with network members assuming new roles; social networks had indirect effects but not direct or buffering effects on caregiver psychological distress; religious attendance had direct and indirect effects on caregiver psychological distress. These findings point to the important, but complex, role that social networks play in affecting caregivers. However, because of its cross-sectional nature and the relatively small sample size, this study will require replication on larger samples using longitudinal analyses.