1 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
2 University of Wisconsin-Extension, Madison, WI, USA.
Health Educ Behav. 2018 Feb;45(1):90-100. doi: 10.1177/1090198117705164. Epub 2017 Apr 26.
Recent research among cancer survivors suggests that health behaviors and coping are intertwined, with important implications for positive behavior change and health. Informal caregivers may have poor health behaviors, and caregivers' health behaviors have been linked to those of survivors.
This hypothesis generating study assessed the correlations among health behaviors and coping strategies in a population of lung and colorectal cancer caregivers.
This cross-sectional study used data from the Cancer Care Outcomes Research & Surveillance Consortium. Caregivers ( n = 1,482) reported their health behaviors, coping, and sociodemographic and caregiving characteristics. Descriptive statistics assessed the distribution of caregivers' health and coping behaviors, and multivariable linear regressions assessed the associations between health behaviors and coping styles.
Many informal caregivers reported regular exercise (47%) and adequate sleep (37%); few reported smoking (19%) or binge drinking (7%). Problem-focused coping was associated with greater physical activity and less adequate sleep (effect sizes [ESs] up to 0.21, p < .05). Those with some physical activity scored higher on emotion-focused coping, while binge drinkers scored lower (ES = 0.16 and 0.27, p < .05). Caregivers who reported moderate daily activity, current smoking, binge drinking, and feeling less well rested scored higher on dysfunctional coping (ES up to 0.49, p < .05).
Health behaviors and coping strategies were interrelated among informal cancer caregivers. The relationships suggest avenues for future research, including whether targeting both factors concurrently may be particularly efficacious at improving informal caregiver self-care.
Understanding the link between health behaviors and coping strategies may inform health behavior research and practice.
最近针对癌症幸存者的研究表明，健康行为和应对方式相互交织，这对积极的行为改变和健康具有重要意义。非正式照护者可能存在不良的健康行为，而照护者的健康行为与幸存者的健康行为有关。
本研究旨在评估肺癌和结直肠癌照护者群体中健康行为和应对策略之间的相关性。
这是一项横断面研究，使用了癌症护理结果研究和监测联盟的数据。照护者（n=1482）报告了他们的健康行为、应对方式以及社会人口学和照护特征。描述性统计评估了照护者健康和应对行为的分布情况，多变量线性回归评估了健康行为和应对方式之间的关联。
许多非正式照护者报告经常锻炼（47%）和充足睡眠（37%）；很少有人报告吸烟（19%）或狂饮（7%）。问题聚焦应对方式与更多的体育活动和较差的睡眠质量相关（效应大小[ES]最高可达 0.21，p<0.05）。那些有一定体育活动的人在情绪聚焦应对方式上得分较高，而狂饮者得分较低（ES 分别为 0.16 和 0.27，p<0.05）。报告适度日常活动、当前吸烟、狂饮和感觉休息不佳的照护者在功能失调应对方式上的得分更高（ES 最高可达 0.49，p<0.05）。
非正式癌症照护者的健康行为和应对策略相互关联。这些关系为未来的研究提供了思路，包括同时针对这两个因素是否可能特别有效地改善非正式照护者的自我保健。
了解健康行为和应对策略之间的联系可能为健康行为研究和实践提供信息。
