Relation Between Maladaptive Metacognitive Beliefs and Burden in Caregivers of Psychiatric Patients: Role of Resilience as a Moderator and Rumination as a Mediator

Abstract

Background: Caregivers of psychiatric patients delivered a wide range of concurrent tasks to manage patients' symptoms and adverse effects of treatment at home, such as medication management, physical care and emotional support; these tasks may leave caregivers at high risk of burden. Aim: To investigate the relation between maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and burden among caregivers of psychiatric patients and probe the role of rumination and resilience in the relationship. Subjects& Method: Design: descriptive correlational, setting: Port-Said psychiatric health hospital, subjects: Four hundreds and ninety three caregivers of persons with psychiatric disorders. Tools: a series of questionnaires (MCB Questionnaire, IEQ-Burden Scale, Response Style Questionnaire, CD Resilience Scale). Results the average scale mean score of caregivers burden was 110.152± 2.99, while the overall mean score of metacognitive beliefs was (111.242± 3.10 . Linear mixed model analyses revealed that maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and resilience independently predicted caregivers' burden. Moreover, mediation analysis showed that rumination could be mediating the effect of maladaptive metacognitions on burden level. Conclusion: The current study is a first step towards understanding the role of metacognitions in psychiatric patients' caregivers' burden, with the study of resilience and rumination as influential factors. Recommendations: Interventions like mindfulness training and stress management techniques and coping abilities enhancement are recommended.