Social support and care burden in family caregivers of patients with hematologic malignancies: a parallel mediation model of coping strategies

Objective With the rising incidence of hematologic malignancies (HMs) in recent years, caregivers of HMs patients have increasingly emerged as a significant factor affecting the treatment of these conditions. This study aimed to explore the association of coping strategies on the relationship between care burden and social support among family caregivers of HMs patients. Methodology A questionnaire survey was conducted involving 207 family caregivers of hospitalized HMs patients in a tertiary hospital in Dalian from October 2023 to May 2024 and 200 valid responses were collected. We used hierarchical linear regression and parallel mediation model to assess the relationships and potential mediating effects among care burden, coping strategies, and social support. Results In our study, the care burden showed a medium level and average score was 44.21 ± 15.92. Positive coping strategies ( r = − 0.769, P < 0.01) and social support ( r = − 0.654, P < 0.01) showed a negative correlation with care burden, while negative coping strategies was significantly correlated with care burden ( r = 0.788, P < 0.01). According to the mediating effect analysis after covariate adjustment, the relationships between social support and care burden were mediated by coping strategies in total samples and the indirect effect value was −0.955, accounted for 73.57% of the total effect. Conclusions Family caregivers of HMs patients with more negative coping strategies and less social support were significantly associated with higher levels of care burden. Coping strategies served as a partial parallel mediator between social support and care burden.