Introduction: Previous research indicates a robust negative association between parental stress and well-being (Rusu et al., 2025), and a positive link between social support and mental health (Acoba, 2024). However, the interaction between these constructs has not been examined, nor whether high social support can buffer the detrimental effect of stress on well-being. The present study addresses this gap by testing whether greater social support mitigates the impact of stress on parents’ psychological well-being.
Method: A cross-sectional design was used with a sample of 191 parents of children with Down syndrome (143 mothers, 75%). Participants completed standardized questionnaires measuring Psychological Well-Being (according to the multidimensional model developed by Carol Ryff), Parental Stress, and Perceived Social Support.
Result: We conducted a series of hierarchical analyses of variance with each of the six well-being dimensions (e.g. Autonomy, Personal Growth, Positive Relationships) as a dependent variable. All models were significant and explained 21–44% of the variance. For two dimensions (Positive Relationships and Autonomy), the main effect of social support was stronger than the stress effect, whereas a reverse trend was observed for the other dimensions. Notably, in the domains of Personal Growth and Autonomy, higher social support appeared to suppress the negative effect of stress on well-being.
Discussion: Psychological Well-Being is a multidimensional construct and should be analyzed accordingly. By including both adverse (stress) and protective (support) factors in our models, we observed a suppression effect, where controlling for one factor revealed the influence of the other.