Social support refers to people’s interpersonal relationships and is a potentially powerful mediator for caregivers’ life satisfaction. This study examined the relationships between parental caregiver burden, depression, social support, and life satisfaction. It compared these relation variables between parents of preschool- and school-aged children, as mediator effects of social support may differ across age ranges. Data were used from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea’s research on support services and policies for people with brain lesions. Parental caregivers of preschool- (n = 93) and school-aged (n = 91) children participated in this study. A multigroup analysis indicated a significant negative relationship between caregiving burden and depression with social support and parental life satisfaction and a significant positive relation for social support with life satisfaction for the overall group, preschool- and school aged. Social support was a mediator for each group; however, the regression weight differed between preschool- and school-aged children’s parents. The study confirms the importance of caregivers’ social support and suggests a need for family support strategies that account for children’s ages.

社会支持是指人们之间的人际关系，是照顾者生活满意度的潜在强大中介。这项研究检查了父母照顾者负担，抑郁，社会支持和生活满意度之间的关系。它比较了学龄前儿童和学龄儿童父母之间的这些关系变量，因为社会支持的中介作用在不同年龄段可能有所不同。数据来自韩国厚生劳动省对脑损伤患者的支持服务和政策研究。学龄前的父母照顾者-（n = 93）和学龄儿童（n= 91）儿童参加了这项研究。一项多组分析表明，在整个小组，学龄前和学龄儿童中，照料负担和抑郁与社会支持和父母生活满意度之间存在显着的负相关关系，而社会支持与生活满意度之间则存在显着的正相关关系。社会支持是每个群体的调解者；但是，学龄前和学龄儿童父母之间的回归权重不同。该研究证实了照顾者社会支持的重要性，并提出了需要考虑到儿童年龄的家庭支持策略的需求。