Mutuality and preparedness as predictors of caregiver role strain

Abstract

Data from 78 older persons and their family caregivers were obtained at 6 weeks and 9 months after hospital discharge. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to determine whether mutuality and preparedness for caregiving were related to lower levels of caregiver role strain. The results indicated that, after controlling for five other variables commonly found to be related to caregiver role strain, mutuality and preparedness ameliorated some but not all aspects of role strain.

Psychometric properties of the Caregiver Preparedness Scale in caregivers of stroke survivors

“…CFA supported the unidimensionality of the scale found in other caregiver populations. 25,27 CFA showed that loadings of the latent variable in each item were above the recommended value of 0.30. These findings indicated that the latent variable has a high impact on items.…”

“…25 This instrument includes eight items on caregiver preparedness to care for a patient's physical and emotional needs, setting up services, coping with the stress of caregiving, making caregiving activities pleasant for the caregiver and the stroke survivor, responding and managing emergencies, getting help and information from the health care system, and overall preparedness. Examples of the questions on the scale are "How well prepared do you think you are to take care of your family member's physical needs?"…”

“…To measure preparedness for caregiving, Archbold et al 25 developed the Caregiver Preparedness Scale (CPS). Caregiver preparedness was defined as perceived preparation of caregivers to care for the physical and emotional needs of the patient.…”

“…12 Despite wide use of the CPS, to our knowledge only three studies have tested the factorial structure and reliability of the scale. The first study was conducted in the United States, 25 where the CPS was developed, with a sample of caregivers of older adults who required assistance to take medications or for ADL. The factorial structure of the CPS was tested with exploratory factor analysis, which generated one factor explaining 50% of CPS variance.…”

Anticipatory grief in the context of dementia caregiving.

“…On the other hand, individuals caring for a family member with whom he or she had a very close, and perhaps less conflicted relationship, may be less likely to experience caregiving as a sacrifice and more likely to experience feelings of sadness and longing for the circumstances of the past. This notion is supported by research suggesting that care giving relationships characterized by expressions of love and affection lead caregivers to experience more intrinsic rewards from providing care (Archbold, Stewart, Greenlick, & Harvath, 1990). Those without relationships characterized by expressions of emotional closeness likely experience caregiving as less gratifying and may grieve more for personal sacrifices and losses.…”