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Just as a fleet of ships moves across the ocean—the flagship in the lead as other vessels circle around it—people move through life with a social convoy around them, closest confidants shifting as a person's season of life changes.

It's a well-documented phenomenon for those who study relationships, says Amanda Cooper, assistant professor of communication at UConn: "We have people who are close to us in the convoy who provide important support, and then there are people a little bit further away in the convoy who are more distant. But all of them move with us through life, and that group of supporters changes across the lifespan."

But what happens to that group of supporters when a person becomes a caregiver for a spouse with dementia? How does the social convoy change? Who might move into the inner circle, who might move out and why?

Cooper and graduate students from UConn's departments of Communication and Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS) found that the hierarchy in the social convoy reshuffles as dementia progresses, and the type of support offered by those in the convoy often makes a difference in where they land.

"This study sheds more light on the complexities of relationships between dementia caregivers, the people with dementia and the people who are significant in their social circles," HDFS graduate student Chizobam Nweke says.

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