caregiver support

Introduction Adolescents’ subjective well-being has been widely studied across different family structures. However, little is known about the role of basic psychological needs in the subjective well-being of adolescents living in different family structures or in residential care. The present study addresses this gap. Methods The sample comprised 5,295 adolescents aged 10 -16 years ( M age =13.20, SD=1.50) living in intact families (65%), single-parent families (21%), stepparent families (12%), or residential care (2%). Participants completed self-report measures of basic psychological need satisfaction at home, subjective well-being (affective and cognitive components), and perceived family affluence. Results Structural equation modeling showed significant indirect associations between family structure and adolescents’ subjective well-being through basic psychological need satisfaction at home, including a sequential indirect association through perceived family affluence and basic psychological need satisfaction. Living in residential care was also indirectly associated with adolescents’ subjective well-being through basic psychological need satisfaction at home, whereas the direct association was not statistically significant. The results show that adolescents living in intact families reported the highest level of basic psychological need satisfaction at home, followed by those in single-parent and stepparent families, while adolescents in residential care reported the lowest level. Discussion The findings provide evidence that the association between family and care contexts and adolescents’ subjective well-being is statistically mediated by basic psychological need satisfaction at home. The results are discussed in light of the value of parental and caregiver support for adolescents’ basic psychological needs in different family types and care.

Sleep and circadian disturbances in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affect patients and caregivers, but clinical action depends on the syndrome, measurement, and outcome under consideration. This narrative review links sleep assessment to indication-based care while distinguishing symptomatic benefit, physiological target engagement, and disease modification. A purposive literature search was supplemented by targeted checks of PubMed-indexed and original publisher records through 4 October 2026. Selected studies are described by population, AD ascertainment, comparator, and measured endpoint rather than assigned formal evidence-certainty grades. Actigraphy characterizes behavioral rest–activity patterns; melatonin timing and temperature rhythms address endogenous circadian physiology under controlled conditions. Polysomnography and quantitative electroencephalography characterize respiratory events, sleep architecture, and oscillatory activity. These measurements inform different questions and do not independently assign AD etiology or cognitive-functional stage. Clinical priorities include confirmed obstructive sleep apnea, cognition-adapted insomnia care, irregular sleep timing, medication-related effects, parasomnias, limb symptoms, and excessive daytime sleepiness. Interpretation incorporates hypoxemia, treatment exposure, comorbidity, caregiver support, and competing diagnoses. Randomized sleep benefits remain distinct from observational cognitive associations or exploratory imaging and cerebrospinal fluid changes. Human and animal studies of arousal circuits, protein dynamics, inflammation, and fluid transport provide mechanistic context, with conflicting results interpreted according to the actual experimental endpoint. The review provides a clinically organized account of selected evidence, not a comprehensive treatment ranking. Sleep care and cognitive-etiologic assessment should proceed in parallel, with follow-up matched to patient function, safety, and the specific treatment goal.