Differences in caregivers' cognitive appraisal, coping strategies, and perceived influence on life by care recipients' sex and kinship with primary caregivers.

Abstract

Objectives This study was aimed at examining whether caregivers' cognitive appraisal, coping strategies, and perceived influence on life vary according to care recipients' sex and caregivers' kinship (e.g., spouse, son, daughter, or daughter-in-law).Methods We contacted 1,110 relatively large visiting nursing stations in 37 prefectures, 83 of which agreed to participate in the study. Station managers were requested to select up to 20 families with an elderly person to care for. A questionnaire that included measures for caregivers' cognitive appraisal, coping strategies toward family caregiving, and caregivers' perception, which measures the perceptions of negative and positive influences on family life through caregiving, was administered to the 1,278 families selected by the nursing stations. From this pool, 1,020 questionnaires (79.8%) were returned, completed anonymously by primary caregivers.Results Two-way analysis of variance was used to analyze the care recipients' sex and kinship with primary caregivers. The analysis revealed significant interactions regarding the level of care required and approximately half of the scales measuring cognitive appraisal, coping strategies, and perceived influence on life. The level of care required was higher for male care recipients than for female care recipients when recipients were cared for by their daughters. Husbands caring for wives and daughters-in-law caring for fathers-in-law were more likely to feel "restricted in their social life," have difficulty "keeping pace" with caregiving, and have "negative influence on life." Husbands caring for wives felt less "personal growth through caregiving" than wives caring for husbands. Daughters caring for fathers perceived a lower "positive acceptance of caregiving role" than those caring for mothers. Husbands caring for wives tended not to seek "informal support." Care recipients' sex had little influence on caregivers' cognitive appraisal, coping strategies, and caregivers' perceptions of negative and positive influences on family life. Regarding the main effects of caregivers' kinship, spousal caregivers felt more anxious about continuous caregiving but felt more "fulfilled" and "positively accepted" in their caregiving role.Conclusion Cognitive appraisal and coping strategies toward family caregiving, and the caregivers' perceptions of negative and positive influences on life might vary according to care recipients' sex and caregivers' kinship. Our findings suggest the necessity for long-term care insurance services to incorporate not only care for the care recipients but also a strategy to deal with the psychological burden of family caregivers.