Predictors of Familism in the Caregiver Role

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate whether age, gender and ethnicity were predictive of familism in caregivers; and whether familism was associated with coping. Forty-five British South-Asian and 43 British Caucasian caregivers completed a cross-sectional questionnaire of demographics, the brief Cope and the Heller Familism scale. Asian and younger caregivers endorsed higher levels of familisim than Caucasian and older caregivers. In the final model, demographic variables, humour, religious, active and instrumental coping explained 41 per cent of the variance in caregiver familism. The findings suggest the need to consider familism values when providing caregiver services to minimize the potential negative impact of caregiving.