Appraisal, coping, hardiness, and self‐perceived health in community‐dwelling spouse caregivers of persons with dementia

Abstract

Although researchers have suggested that hardiness is associated with improved outcomes in stressful situations, findings regarding its moderating effects have been mixed. Relationships among hardiness, appraisal, coping, self-perceived health, and other antecedent variables were examined in a convenience sample of 72 community-dwelling spouse caregivers for persons with dementia. In this descriptive correlational design, participants completed a mailed survey. Regression analyses were used to detect main and moderating effects. Antecedent variables predicted 27% of the variance in caregiver appraisal, 23% of the variance in emotion-focused coping, and 22% of the variance in self-perceived health. In addition to its significant main effects, hardiness functioned as a significant moderator between the set of antecedent variables and caregiver appraisal. More research is needed to support the presence of main and moderating effects of hardiness in dementia caregivers.

Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Revised Caregiving Appraisal Scale in Iranian Family Caregivers of Older Adults with Dementia

“…Conducting further qualitative or mixed methods studies may therefore help us understand these concepts from the perspective of Iranian caregivers. This subscale showed a poor internal consistency compared to the other subscales in studies conducted in other countries and on different groups of caregivers as well (13,19,21,22,35,36). The test-retest reliability and stability of the scale and the ICC showed favorable values, since ICC ≥ 0.8 indicates a favorable stability (33).…”

“…This scale has been widely used in English-speaking countries and its validity and reliability have been confirmed in various studies. In addition, it has been used most frequently with caregivers of vulnerable older adults who have cognitive impairments (19,(21)(22)(23)(24). Despite being very well-known in western cultures and English-speaking countries, Lawton's scale has had limited use in other cultures and languages, which further necessitates the confirmation of its validity and reliability for application in eastern countries that are not English-speaking.…”

Resilience in Family Members of Persons with Serious Mental Illness

“…However, others have said that hardiness involves cognitive and behavioral flexibility, motivation to follow through with plans, and endurance when faced with adversity. 44 In caregivers, hardiness has been found to minimize the burden of caregiving, 45 and enable caregivers to appraise the caregiving situation more positively, 46 and use problem-focused coping methods, including help-seeking strategies. 47 Two studies have examined hardiness in family members of persons with mental illness.…”

Stress and coping model for family caregivers of older adults

“…It has been found that women were more emotionally invested in caregiving and women had more variation in their perception of caregiver burden on a day-to-day basis (Koerner & Kenyon, 2007). Also, research indicates that women are in better physical health and maintained higher levels of socialization outside of caregiving (DiBartolo & Soeken, 2003). However, men were more satisfied with the role of caregiving than women (Broe et al, 1999;DiBartolo & Soeken, 2003;Ekwall & Hallberg, 2007).…”

“…It is assumed that if a caregiver has fewer caregiver burdens, the caregiver would also have less caregiver stress. As with any kind of chronic stress, caregiver stress has been found to be associated with a decrease in physical health and life satisfaction (DiBartolo & Soeken, 2003;Pruchno, Kleban, Michaels, & Dempsey, 1990). However, the effects of stress on physical health and life satisfaction have been found to be mediated by coping and social support (House, Umberson, & Landis, 1988;McClendon, Smyth, & Neundorfer, 2004).…”