Table 3.

Results of the regression models testing the mediation hypothesis.

Variable	Total effect of social		Direct effect of social		Direct effects of social support on
	support on depression		support on loneliness		depression and loneliness on depression
	Path c		Path a		Path c' and Path b
	B	SE	B	SE	B	SE
Social support	−0.16***	0.04	−0.47***	0.07	−0.04	0.04
Loneliness	-	-	-	-	0.27***	0.04
Covariates Family caregivers
Gender
Men (ref)
Women	2.17**	0.68	1.11	1.05	1.86**	0.62
Age (years)
<45 (ref)
45–59	0.22	1.05	1.63	1.62	−0.23	0.96
≥60	−1.51	1.18	2.98	1.83	−2.32*	1.08
Education
No formal education (ref)
Primary school	−2.28*	0.91	0.22	1.41	−2.34**	0.83
Middle school	−3.34**	1.04	−0.18	1.60	−3.29**	0.94
High school and above	−3.33*	1.32	1.28	2.05	−3.67**	1.20
Marital status
Married have spouses (ref)
Divorced, widowed, or unmarried	−0.39	0.91	−1.26	1.41	−0.04	0.83
Employment status
Employed (ref)
Unemployed	1.10	0.76	−1.83	1.17	1.59*	0.69
Retired	1.55	1.04	−0.56	1.61	1.70	0.95
Annual personal income, $
<750 (ref)
750–1,499	−1.08	0.99	−2.10	1.53	−0.51	0.91
≥1,500	−1.63*	0.72	−3.53**	1.11	−0.67	0.67
Chronic condition
No (ref)
Yes	−0.16	0.72	−1.12	1.11	0.15	0.65
Relationship with the care recipient
Spouse (ref)
Parents	−0.84	1.03	−1.31	1.59	−0.48	0.94
Other	−1.16	0.90	0.96	1.39	−1.42	0.82
Persons with SMI
Age
<45 (ref)
45–59	−0.41	0.89	1.31	1.37	−0.76	0.81
≥60	−0.93	1.08	−0.96	1.67	−0.67	0.98
Medical insurance
No (ref)
Yes	1.00	1.75	7.57**	2.71	−1.06	1.62
Other chronic disease
No (ref)
Yes	−0.19	0.81	1.87	1.25	−0.70	0.74
Constant	26.12***	3.85	51.11***	5.95	9.73**	3.44
R2	0.23		0.32		0.36
F	3.67***		5.74***		6.73***

^*p < 0.05,

^**p < 0.01,

^***p <0.001.