Relationships between perceived social support, self-efficacy, coping styles and resilience in older patients with Parkinson’s disease

AIM: To explore the structural relationships among perceived social support, self-efficacy, coping styles, and resilience in older patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional study. A total of 220 older patients with PD were recruited from hospitals in China using convenience sampling. Patients completed a standardized questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. RESULTS: The resilience of older patients with PD was at a moderately low level. SEM results indicated that resilience was positively associated with perceived social support, confrontation coping, and self-efficacy, and negatively correlated with acceptance-resignation coping. Confrontation coping and self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between perceived social support and resilience. A significant serial mediation effect (confrontation coping→self-efficacy) was also observed. CONCLUSIONS: Confrontation coping and self-efficacy are key mechanisms linking perceived social support to resilience. Interventions targeting confrontation coping strategies and enhancing self-efficacy may improve resilience among older patients with PD.