Evaluation of the coping attitudes of Alzheimer patients' relatives from the perspectives of depression, anxiety and guilt

Abstract

This study aims to assess coping attitudes in primary caregivers of individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease residing in an institution, and to evaluate the association between coping attitudes and levels of guilt, depression, and anxiety among caregivers. The sample of this study consists of 150 individuals with relatives diagnosed with Alzheimer. The Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Coping Attitudes Scale, the Guilt Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory were used in the present study. It was determined that the participants' coping levels were below the average score and that they frequently used problem focus coping attitudes. A positive relationship was found between the emotion focused, nonfunctional coping levels of the participants and their continuous guilt, anxiety and depression levels. Depression and guilt has a strong effect on coping attitudes, while anxiety was determined to be a moderate predictive variable. Findings show that caregivers with depression, anxiety and continuous guilt use non-functional and emotional coping more frequently.