Factors influencing loneliness in cancer caregivers: A longitudinal study

Abstract

Objective: To describe levels of loneliness in cancer caregivers over a 6 month time period, and to examine factors that influence changes in loneliness in caregivers over time. Methods: Prospective, repeated measures design was utilized to examine levels of loneliness and factors that influence loneliness in 129 family caregivers of individuals undergoing cancer treatment at three time points over a 6 month period. Measures included: PROMIS global health and sleep disturbance; NIH Toolbox loneliness, selfefficacy and perceived stress; Family Care Inventory mutuality scale; and Caregiver Reaction Assessment. Results: Approximately one third (30.2%, n = 39) of the caregivers had high levels of loneliness, and levels of loneliness did not change over the three time points (P = .985). For any given time point, caregivers who were not married (P = .008), not working (P = .027), with worse mental health (P = .015), more perceived-stress (P < .0001), and more caregiver burden (P = .003) reported higher levels of loneliness. Conclusion: This study provides guidance for clinicians attempting to identify at-risk caregivers by confirming the findings of previous research that caregivers with higher burden, stress and in poor mental health are at increased risk for loneliness. This study provides preliminary evidence that continuing to work during the caregiving trajectory may be beneficial to caregivers by reducing levels of loneliness. Future research is needed to confirm these findings and to examine novel interventions to reduce loneliness in cancer caregivers.

Physical Activity and Nutrition-Related Beliefs, Behaviors, and Challenges in Individuals Living With Cancer and Their Caregivers

“…We also found that patients with lower education and those without adequate financial support perceived more barriers. These findings parallel similar findings in the literature 47,59. In our perspective, they highlight a critical prerequisite for interventions to first address barriers and then focus on dietary behavior change.…”

Lonely in a Crowd: Social Isolation Profiles and Caregiver Burden Among Family Caregivers of Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment

“…Also, the regression analysis may suffer from endogeneity bias that includes reverse causality and omitted confounders. The bidirectional relationship between social isolation profiles and caregiver burden is plausible (Ross et al, 2020). Also, unobserved caregiver characteristics, such as caregiver personality traits, may influence both loneliness (Buecker et al, 2020) and caregiver burden (Melo et al, 2011), leading to the spurious association between the two.…”

A Study of Social Isolation, Multimorbidity and Multiple Role Demands Among Middle-Age Adults Based on the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

“…Another study found that among both women and men, participants who had three roles (i.e., working, childrearing, and caregiving to aging parents) had significantly less psychological distress than those who had fewer roles (Honda et al, 2015). Further, a recent longitudinal study also confirmed that caregivers who were in the paid labor force reported a lower level of loneliness than non-working caregivers (Ross et al, 2020). Workplace interaction and resources may provide a "protective shield" against the loneliness from family caregivers.…”