Moderated mediating effects of perceived loneliness and economic burden between social support and mental health for lung cancer patients.

Perceived loneliness partially mediated the relationship between social support and mental health among lung cancer patients.

• The mediation was partial, meaning social support had both direct and indirect (through perceived loneliness) effects on mental health.
• The mediation effect held across all three dimensions of social support (objective support, subjective support, and support utilization) with some variation by economic burden group.
• For subjective support specifically, perceived loneliness exerted a mediating effect among all patients regardless of economic burden level.
• Data were collected from 614 valid questionnaires using convenience sampling from December 2023 to February 2024.

Economic burden moderated the relationship between perceived loneliness and mental health.

• A quarter (24.6%) of participants reported a high level of economic burden.
• For objective support, perceived loneliness served as a mediator only among high-burden participants.
• For support utilization, perceived loneliness served as a mediator only among low-burden participants.
• The moderated mediation analysis revealed differential pathways depending on economic burden level.

The study sample was predominantly female, middle-aged, and diagnosed with early-stage adenocarcinoma.

• More than half of participants were female (65.8%).
• Half of participants were aged between 40 and 60 years (53.7%).
• The majority had been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma (94.1%).
• The majority were classified as having stage I lung cancer (85.8%).
• A total of 614 valid questionnaires were collected using convenience sampling.

Social support, perceived loneliness, and mental health were each assessed using validated instruments.

• Social support was assessed with the Social Support Rating Scale.
• Mental health was assessed with the General Health Questionnaire.
• Perceived loneliness was assessed with the Cancer Loneliness Scale.
• Theoretical hypotheses were tested using moderated mediation analysis.

Intervention strategies for improving mental health should be tailored to patients' level of economic burden.

• For patients with high economic burden, the authors recommend providing supportive resources such as financial assistance, psychoeducation programs, and social activities.
• For patients with lower economic burden, the authors recommend promoting resource utilization such as patient navigation programs.
• The rationale is that economic burden differentially moderates how perceived loneliness mediates the social support–mental health relationship.
• Providing social support may improve mental health outcomes by alleviating feelings of loneliness among lung cancer patients.