Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2020 Feb;32(2):229-240. doi: 10.1017/S1041610219000565. Epub 2019 Jul 18.
Providing care for an older family member is a common experience for women and has been linked with increased depression, anxiety, and stress for some caregivers. This study aimed to investigate the role of self-reassurance and self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts in mitigating the negative effects of caregiving stressors on mental health.
Measures were collected during a pre-intervention assessment for a larger study in the U.S.A. evaluating online interventions for intergenerational caregivers. Hierarchical linear regressions were used to examine the contribution of self-reassurance and self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts on mental health outcomes, after controlling for caregiving-related contextual variables and stressors.
Participants completed online questionnaires on a computer or tablet at their convenience.
Participants were 150 help-seeking adult women providing health-care assistance to older relatives living in the community.
Measures were completed for the mental health outcomes of depression, anxiety, and stress. Measures also included contextual factors of caregiving and demographics. Cognitive impairment, caregiver assistance, role overload, percentage of care provided, family conflict, self-reassurance, and self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts were also measured.
Regression models revealed that both self-reassurance and self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts predicted depression, anxiety, and perceived stress after controlling for caregiving contextual factors and stressors.
The results indicate that self-reassurance and self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts are effective resources linked to mental health outcomes. Although results were obtained with cross-sectional data, these findings suggest the potential of targeting these resources in transdiagnostic interventions for family caregivers.
照顾年长的家庭成员是女性常见的经历，一些照顾者会因此感到抑郁、焦虑和压力增加。本研究旨在探讨自我安慰和控制不安想法的自我效能感在减轻照顾压力源对心理健康的负面影响中的作用。
本研究在美国一项评估针对代际照顾者的在线干预措施的大型研究中进行了预干预评估，收集了相关测量数据。使用分层线性回归来检验自我安慰和控制不安想法的自我效能感对心理健康结果的贡献，同时控制了与照顾相关的背景变量和压力源。
参与者在方便的时候通过电脑或平板电脑在线完成问卷。
参与者为 150 名寻求帮助的成年女性，她们为居住在社区的老年亲属提供医疗保健援助。
评估了抑郁、焦虑和压力等心理健康结果的测量。测量还包括照顾的背景因素和人口统计学信息。认知障碍、照顾者协助、角色过载、提供的照顾比例、家庭冲突、自我安慰和控制不安想法的自我效能感也进行了测量。
回归模型显示，在控制了照顾背景因素和压力源后，自我安慰和控制不安想法的自我效能感均能预测抑郁、焦虑和感知压力。
研究结果表明，自我安慰和控制不安想法的自我效能感是与心理健康结果相关的有效资源。尽管结果是通过横断面数据获得的，但这些发现表明，针对家庭照顾者的这些资源进行跨诊断干预具有潜力。
