Motivating factors, exchange patterns, and reciprocity among caregivers of parents with and without dementia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of background characteristics, motivating factors, exchange patterns, and diagnosis of dementia on caregiver reciprocity. Adult children of parents with dementia (n = 110) and without dementia (n = 195) completed the Caregiver Reciprocity Scale, Motivating Factors Index, Exchange Patterns Index, and a demographic data sheet. ANCOVA analysis indicated adult children of parents with dementia gave more direct instrumental and supervisory care, received more negative and fewer positive exchanges, and reported significantly lower levels of warmth and regard, intrinsic rewards of giving, and balance within family caregiving when compared to adult children of parents without dementia. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that 64% of the variance of warmth and regard; 42% of intrinsic rewards of giving; 48% of love and affection; and 31% of balance within family caregiving was explained by antecedent demographic variables, motivating factors, exchanges given and received, and dementia. Surprisingly, the diagnosis of dementia did not contribute to explained variance in caregiver reciprocity.

Daughters Giving Care to Mothers Who Have Dementia: Mastering the 3 R’s of (Re)Calling, (Re)Learning, and (Re)Adjusting

“…The findings also support those who consider dementia itself to have a significant impact on the caregiving experience. Although Carruth (1996) found that dementia did not make a difference in the daughters' motivation to care but had great impact on daily life, the current study found that the dementia was an important influence on how the daughters viewed their mothers, how they reconstructed their relationships with their mothers, and how they approached spending time with their mothers, for example, in the strategy of protection related to the mother's cognitive decline.…”

Characteristics and well-being of informal caregivers: Results from a nationally-representative US survey

“…This is in keeping with the literature showing that caregivers may experience uplifts and rewards from their caregiving responsibilities. 42 However, our study also emphasizes that being a caregiver may increase vulnerability to poor quality of life, and that the predictors of mental health, general health, and other outcomes are not the same. 27,43 Recognizing that caregivers experience both uplifts and decrements in well-being opens the door to policies intended to augment informal caregiving by providing additional resources and support to caregivers.…”

Motives for caring: relationship to stress and coping dimensions

“…49). Although there may exist differences between both studies in the types of motivations due to sample differences (dementia caregivers in the Dilworth-Anderson et al (2005) study and a mixed sample of caregivers of relatives with dementia and other disorders in the IMSERSO (2005) study), no differences in motivations for caring between dementia caregivers and nondementia caregivers were found in the Carruth (1996) study. Research on motives for caregiving has also suggested that caregivers may have different types of motivations for caring; in other words, motives may not be mutually incompatible (Walker et al, 1990;Kabitsi and Powers, 2002), and different profiles of motivations may exist between caregivers.…”