Family burden and psychological distress among Chinese caregivers of elderly people with dementia: a moderated mediation model.

BACKGROUND

Although the Stress-Coping Model (SCM) has been widely used to explain the coping process of individuals facing stressful situations, its applicability to caregivers of elderly people with dementia (PwD) in China needs to be further investigated. Furthermore, the role of external resources in caregivers stress coping is not yet clear. Therefore, our study aimed to investigated the mediating and moderating mechanisms between family burden and psychological distress in PwD caregivers based on the SCM.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study, with 193 pairs of PwD and caregivers completed the self-designed questionnaire, Family Burden Scale of Disease, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Simplified Coping Style Question, The Family Adaptation and Cohesion Evaluation Scales II-CV and Social Support Rating Scale. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analyzed the mediating and moderating effects.

RESULTS

Family burden positively correlated with psychological distress; the chain mediation effects of self-efficacy and positive coping between family burden and psychological distress was significant; the interaction term (family function_positive coping) did not but (social support_positive coping) had a significant positive impact on psychological distress.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings provides a practical basis for the use of SCM in informal caregivers of elderly PwD, assists understanding the mechanism of the relationship between family burden and psychological distress. And it supplies new perspectives for reducing the negative psychological health status and a theoretical basis for designing interventions for caregivers.