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The Mediating Effects of Situational Control on Social Support and Mood Following a Stressor

A Prospective Study of Dementia Caregivers in Their Natural Environments

^a Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
^b Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Research and Policy at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California

Audie A. Atienza, SCRDP, Stanford University, 730 Welch Road, Suite B, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1583 E-mail: audie.atienza{at}stanford.edu.

Objectives. The present study examined, prospectively and within the context of stress experienced in the natural environment, whether situational control served as a mediator between perceived social support and caregiver's mood.

Methods. Data came from baseline assessments of individuals participating in health promotion interventions for women caregivers. Participants were 49 female caregivers of dementia patients who monitored their own acute psychological states during the day.

Results. Results revealed that although the occurrence of a situational stressor increased negative mood, greater perceived support reduced the detrimental impact of a stressor on negative mood. Moreover, path analyses revealed that changes in situational control partially mediated the relationship between perceived support and stress-induced negative mood changes. However, changes in control did not serve as a mediator in analyses focused on happiness.

Discussion. Results suggest that caregivers with greater perceived support were less emotionally reactive to stress occurring in their natural environments because of, in part, sustained or increased situational control.