Abstract
Invisible support can benefit recipients’ well-being, according to studies of young adults coping with acute stressors. Little research has examined the impact of invisible support on support providers. To characterize the day-to-day effects of invisible support on support providers’ and recipients’ mood among older couples facing chronic pain, we utilized 22-day diary data from 138 osteoarthritis patients and spouses. Analyses controlled for prior negative affect, marital satisfaction, gender, age, and patients’ pain. Patients reported lower negative affect on days when they received higher levels of emotional and instrumental support—regardless of spouses’ reports of provided support. As predicted, spouses reported higher levels of negative affect on days when they provided more instrumental support—but only when patients reported receiving low levels of instrumental support (i.e., invisible support). These findings indicate that daily invisible support may challenge older support providers’ well-being and fail to benefit support recipients.