Internal resources among informal caregivers: trajectories and associations with well-being

Abstract

Purpose The experiences, skills, and internal resources that informal caregivers bring into their role may play a critical part in their mental health and well-being. This study examined how caregiver internal resources changed over a 10-year period, and how this was related to caregivers’ well-being. Methods Data are from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, a national sample of adults, at two time points: 1995–1996 (T1), and 2004–2006 (T2). We identified subjects who reported being a caregiver at T2 and starting care after T1 (mean age=56; 65% female). We examined internal resources – sense of control (personal mastery); primary and secondary control strategies (persistence in goal striving; positive reappraisal; lowering expectations), and social support seeking – and psychological and subjective well-being. We evaluated how internal resources changed over time, and how these trajectories were associated with well-being at T2 using multivariable linear regressions. Results Most caregivers had stable levels of internal resources (between 4% and 13% showed an increase or decrease). Caregivers with increasing or high-stable levels of personal mastery had significantly better well-being on 6 out of 8 subscales compared to low-stable levels (effect sizes [ES] between 0.39 and 0.79). Increasing persistence was associated with better personal growth and environmental mastery (ES=0.96 and 0.91), and increasing and high-stable positive reappraisal were associated with better affect (ES=0.63 and 0.48) compared to low-stable levels. Lowering aspirations and support seeking were not associated with well-being outcomes. Conclusions Practices or interventions that support or improve internal resources could potentially improve caregiver well-being.

Factors Associated to Positive Aspects in Caregiving for People Living with Dementia in Family Caregivers

“…Kesejahteraan caregiver yang lebih rendah dikaitkan dengan merasakan aspek positif perawatan yang lebih sedikit (-7,67; 95% CI: -10,26, -5,07) [27]. Peningkatan positive reappraisal dikaitkan dengan 5 subskala kesejahteraan (otonomi, pertumbuhan pribadi, penguasaan lingkungan, pengaruh, dan kepuasan hidup : ES (Effect Size) rentang dari 0.32 hingga 0.44) [28].…”

“…Positive aspects of caregiving juga bertindak sebagai mediator untuk memperbaiki stres dalam pengasuhan untuk mempertahankan kualitas hidup caregiver [9]. PAC berfungsi melindungi dan menurunkan depresi pada ODD dan memberikan fungsi protektif terhadap beban caregiver serta menjadi mediator pada hubungan antara depresi pada ODD dan beban caregiver yang dihasilkan [28,29]. Gejala pasien berhubungan positif dengan kepuasan dalam merawat ODD serta beban perawatan, tingkat keparahan gejala pasien menjadikan tingkat kepuasan pengasuhan dan beban pengasuhan yang lebih tinggi [24].…”

An explorative analysis of the differences in levels of happiness between cancer patients, informal caregivers and the general population

“…All of these factors can play a critical role in caregivers' mental health and quality of life [13,14]. However, caregivers may also find benefits in these experiences that may be associated with better outcomes in terms of well-being and happiness [15][16][17].…”

Real-Time Assessment of the Burden on the Community of Informal Caregivers. A Pilot Study

“…The caregiver's burden may be subjective or objective (Molebatsi et al 2017;Tessler and Gamache 2000). The subjective burden refers to the psychological effects of care activity on caregivers, and it depends on the caregiver's material and internal resources (Litzelman et al 2017). The objective burden refers to the effects of care on daily life, such as altered habits, changing work time, leisure time, and holidays that no longer have the quality of leisure time.…”