A longitudinal investigation of information and support seeking processes that alter the uncertainty experiences of mental illness

Kuang, Kai; Wang, Ningxin

doi:10.1080/03637751.2021.2022736

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 48 publications

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“…Family caregivers also reported greater burden when using indirect support seeking, with unsupportive responses from a network member partially mediating this relationship. While caregivers may rely on indirect means to gain support when they lack communication skills to effectively solicit aid (High & Scharp, 2015) or fear rejection from others (Williams & Mickelson, 2008), this approach may also lead them to experience a lowered sense of control or uncertainty (Freire et al, 2016; Kuang & Wang, 2022) over caregiving outcomes, which could contribute to higher caregiving burden. Care recipients' dementia-related behavioral symptoms, such as showing increased agitation, also predicted family caregiving burden, which aligns closely with extant research (e.g., Cheng, 2017; Raggi et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Support Seeking Tactics Used by Family Caregivers of Relatives With Dementia: Influences on Network Support and Caregiving Burden

Schlag,

Zhang

2024

The Family Journal

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Social support for family members who care for a relative with dementia can mitigate caregiving burden. Yet, in that evidence points to these caretakers as often experiencing isolation and loneliness while providing dementia-related care, a need remains to better understand factors contributing to their adverse support experiences. Accordingly, this study applies sensitive interaction systems theory (SIST) to examine how caregivers’ direct versus indirect support-seeking behaviors relate to the quality of support responses they receive from a member of their social network. Associations between network support responses and caregiving burden are also investigated. Family caregivers ( n = 411) completed a Qualtrics survey. Results from path analysis indicated that family caregivers’ direct support seeking was related to supportive responses from a network member, while their indirect tactics to gain assistance predicted unsupportive reactions. Supportive and unsupportive network responses to family caregivers' support seeking were both related to greater caregiving burden. Additionally, indirect support seeking predicted greater caregiving burden, while this relationship was also partially mediated by unsupportive network responses. Findings highlight the utility of marriage and family counseling efforts to help family caregivers identify and practice strategies for communicating their varying dementia-care support needs to others while also managing unconstructive responses shared within their social network. Caregivers may additionally benefit from counseling to help them to develop coping skills beyond support seeking.

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