Objective To explore the mediating role of psychological capital between perceived social support and subjective well-being in stroke patients, and provide a basis for improving the well-being level of stroke patients.

Methods By using the convenience sampling method, 248 stroke patients from the Department of Neurology of a tertiary hospital in Haikou City were selected. The General Information Questionnaire, Perceived Social Support Scale, Positive Psychological Capital Questionnaire and Memorial University of Newfoundland Well-being Scale were used to conduct a questionnaire survey.

Results The total score of perceived social support, psychological capital and subjective well-being of stroke patients were (65.24 ± 10.06), (126.61 ± 21.87) and (36.62 ± 10.14) respectively. The perceived social support was positively correlated with psychological capital (r = 0.409, P ＜ 0.01), and the perceived social support and psychological capital were positively correlated with subjective well-being (r = 0.408, 0.557, P ＜ 0.01). The psychological capital played a partial mediating role between perceived social support and subjective well-being, and the mediating effect value was 0.229, accounting for 48.9%.

Conclusions The perceived social support, psychological capital and subjective well-being of stroke patients are all at a medium level. Perceived social support can not only directly affect subjective well-being, but also indirectly affect subjective well-being through psychological capital.