The Relationship Between The Caregiver Burden And The Affiliate Stigma Of Autistic Caregivers:A Moderated Mediating Model

Objective:To investigate the impact of care burden on affiliate stigma and the influencing mechanism of perceived social support and resilience among caregivers of autistic child.Methods:Two hundred and thirty-five autistic caregivers whose children were treated in The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University,Qinyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Yongcheng Zhongyuan Hospital were selected as participants.Zarit Burden Interview(ZBI),Affiliate Stigma Scales(ASS),Perceived Social Support Scale(PSSS)and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale(CD-RISC)were used for as measures.SPSS 26.0 software was used for data analysis.The methods include descriptive measures,independent Samples t-test,analysis of variance,correlation analysis and regression analysis,test for mediation effect and test for moderation effect,etc.Results:(1)Scores of caregivers’ affiliate stigma significantly differed in relation to patients,occupations,average monthly rehabilitation cost,and marital quality.(2)Care burden was negatively correlated with affiliate stigma and negatively correlated with perceived social support and resilience(r=0.48、-0.33、-0.21,p<0.01);Affiliate stigma was negatively correlated with perceived social support and resilience(r=-0.30 、-0.22,p < 0.01);Perceived social support was positively correlated with resilience(r=0.36,p<0.01).(3)Care burden positively predicted the affiliate stigma(β = 0.46,t=6.85,p<0.001).(4)Perceived social support partially mediated the relationship between care burden and the affiliate stigma(β=-0.14,p<0.05).(5)Resilience plays a moderating role between care burden and perceived social support.Conclusion:(1)The higher the care burden score of autistic caregivers is,the more seriously the group is troubled by the affiliate stigma;(2)Care burden can indirectly affect the affiliate stigma through the mediating effect of perceived social support.(3)Resilience moderated the relationship between care burden and perceived social support.In low levels of resilience,care burden was negatively associated with perceived social support;in medium levels of resilience,the negative association between care burden and perceived social support was weaker;in high levels of resilience,there was no significant relationship between care burden and perceived social support.