Abstract
Only scant literature has focused on social support in Parkinson's disease (PD) caregivers, and no studies to date have examined resilience in this population, despite both variables having been shown to be important in other caregiving populations. As a result, the purpose of the current study was to construct and validate a theoretical structural equation model whereby social support is associated with higher levels of resilience in PD caregivers and increased resilience is related to decreased mental health symptoms. Two hundred fifty three PD caregivers from two clinics in the United States and Mexico completed self-report measures of these constructs. Results suggested that the hypothesized pattern was robustly supported with the structural equation model showing generally good fit indices. Higher levels of social support were associated with increased resilience, which in turn was associated with reduced mental health symptoms. Resilience partially mediated social support's effect on mitigating mental health symptoms. The model explained 11% of the variance in resilience and 35% in mental health symptoms. These findings have implications for future research on the development and tailoring of interventions to improve social support, resilience, and mental health in PD caregivers.
Highlights
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that gradually erodes a person’s motor and cognitive functions, resulting in increasing disability; PD trails only Alzheimer’s disease in neurodegenerative disorder occurrence, and risk for developing PD increases with age [1]
Because only scant literature has focused on social support in PD caregivers and no studies to date have examined resilience in this population, the purpose of the current study was to construct and validate a theoretical structural equation model whereby social support is associated with resilience in PD caregivers, and increased resilience is related to decreased mental health symptoms
Informal caregivers for individual with Parkinson’s disease (IWPD) were invited to participate in the current study while their care recipient was being seen at Parkinson’s Clinic in the Hospital Civil Fray Antonio Alcalde, associated with the University of Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico (n 148) or at the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center of the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, US (n 105). ese clinics were chosen as data collection sites because both were situated in urban, public, academic medical centers within state capitals (i.e., Guadalajara, Jalisco or Richmond, Virginia)
Summary
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that gradually erodes a person’s motor and cognitive functions, resulting in increasing disability; PD trails only Alzheimer’s disease in neurodegenerative disorder occurrence, and risk for developing PD increases with age [1]. As the necessity for caregivers to assist with activities of daily living increases with PD symptom progression [11, 12], caregivers may find their time increasingly occupied with caregiving tasks to the negligence of other work and personal, pleasurable activities [13]. Such activity restriction has been shown to be related to caregiver depression [14]. The course of PD (including symptom development and intensity) and personal characteristics of caregivers and IWPDs may vary greatly, many informal PD caregivers experience mental health problems such as depression and anxiety at levels higher than the general population [7, 10]
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