Familism has been pointed out as a key value in Hispanic culture that may or may not be associated with caregiver distress. Although groups included in the Hispanic identity have many common features, differences between Hispanic sub-groups in the relationship of familism with burden and depressive symptoms remain unexplored. The association of familism with burden and depressive symptomatology was examined in 48 Hispanic dementia caregivers from Los Angeles (CA, USA) and 60 from Madrid (Spain) through path analyses. Burden and depressive symptomatology were positively and significantly related in both samples. Familism was significantly correlated with lesser burden in the USA Hispanic caregiver sample, but with higher levels of depressive symptoms in the Spanish sample. Significant differences between Hispanic samples were found in the relationship between familism, burden, and depression, denoting the importance of specific cultural contexts influencing dementia caregiving in Hispanics.
In this study we assessed the new transactional stress and social support model, postulating the role of neuroticism, ethnicity, familism, and social support in perceived burden in dementia caregivers. We used a convenience sample (N=77) of African American and White dementia caregivers. Results substantiated interrelationships among social support variables, and the influence of perceived positive social support on burden. Neuroticism was related to the perception of positive social support and burden. Results corroborated the model, focusing on neuroticism and quality of social support in modeling perceived burden in family caregivers. Findings call attention to the role of presumably long-standing individual differences in neuroticism that influence caregiver appraisals of stress and social support.
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