Personality characteristics of spousal and adult children and active potential caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's Disease were studied in order to better predict caregiver burden and aspects of well-being. Contrary to prediction, no differences were found between spouse and adult children active caregivers on measures of well-being. Additionally, adult children potential caregivers indicated feeling less control over their lives than spouse potential caregivers. When social desirability was controlled, active caregivers reported greater fluctuations in affect than did potential caregivers. As predicted, personality characteristics of individuals were found to have the biggest role in determining which individuals experience stress or burden.

Current literature regarding caregiver bereavement adjustment has advanced two competing models explaining adjustment in relation to caregiver interrole conflict: the Relief Model and Complicated Grief Model. This research has primarily focused on the experience of those providing care to dementia patients. This study tests these competing models of bereavement adjustment for husband and daughter caregivers of breast cancer hospice patients. For husbands, greater psychological strain and health strain were predictive of greater difficulty with bereavement adjustment, supporting the Complicated Grief Model of bereavement adjustment. For daughters, strain was not a significant predictor of bereavement adjustment, and thus did not support either bereavement adjustment model. While daughter caregivers experienced more role strain than husband caregivers during patient care, the degree of role strain was predictive of bereavement adjustment for husbands but not for daughters, suggesting that relationship type (husbands versus daughters) between caregiver and patient impacts which factors influence bereavement adjustment.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a disability resulting in functional impairments and heightened dependence on others. Family members of persons with TBI can assume added responsibilities during the adjustment to the disability and rehabilitation process, placing strain on the family system. Community re-integration is a primary goal of the rehabilitation process for persons with TBI as this is a step in developing autonomy and promoting independence and productive activity throughout different areas of the person's life (e.g., work, social networks, and home life). This study was designed to examine predictors of community re-integration outcomes of TBI survivors and empirically test the resiliency model of family stress, adjustment, and adaptation while incorporating family needs by surveying caregiving family members. Specific aims of the study include validating relationships of the resiliency model with individual and family outcomes in adaptation and supporting future recommendations for healthcare providers working with families with members with TBI. / by Julianne Agonis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

任煜華. / 論文 (哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 1999. / 參考文獻 (leaves 1-37 (4th group)) / 附中英文摘要. / Ren Yuhua. / Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi) -- Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 1999. / Can kao wen xian (leaves 1-37 (4th group)) / Fu Zhong Ying wen zhai yao. / 致謝 --- p.i / 論文撮要 --- p.iii / 論文撮要（英文） --- p.v / Chapter 第一章 --- 引言 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二章 --- 文獻探討：強直性脊椎炎 --- p.10 / Chapter 第三章 --- 文獻探討:婚姻、家庭、社會支持及心理健康 --- p.39 / Chapter 第四章 --- 概念架構：家庭系統與長期病 --- p.74 / Chapter 第五章 --- 研究問題與假設 --- p.96 / Chapter 第六章 --- 研究方法 --- p.104 / Chapter 第七章 --- 研究結果 --- p.124 / Chapter 第八章 --- 研究結果之討論及建議 --- p.205 / 參考書目 / 附錄：調查問卷

The problem of this study was to better understand spouse caregivers' leisure involvement, experience, and barriers and their relationships with perceived burden. Thirty-six wife and 19 husband caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders volunteered to participate in this study, either by mailed questionnaire or interview. Respondents were primarily female, white, with an average age of 72 years. The conclusions of the study were: (a) caregivers significantly reduce both their leisure involvement; (b) self-reported health, perceived social supports, income level, use of paid help, and leisure activity patterns are major factors associated with caregivers' leisure; and (c) leisure barriers are a significant contributor to caregivers' perceived burden. Recommendations were presented for caregivers, practitioners, and future study.

A sample of 22 persons who care for relatives exhibiting initial symptoms of senile dementia were administered paper-and- pencil questionnaires to determine their level of subjective burden and psychological symptomatology. Each participant's attributional style was measured on an internal-external dimension, and their causal attributions regarding their relative's symptomatic behaviors were assessed. Results indicated that attributional style did not predict specific attributions about illness-related behaviors, but the tendency to not blame an afflicted relative for their behavior was predictive of subjective burden and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Subjective burden was found to predict feelings of hostility in caregivers.

This dissertation is a qualitative study of six daughter-caregivers' narratives of their experiences in caring for their mothers who were afflicted with a progressive dementia such as Alzheimer's disease. Many correlational and experimental studies have attempted to show whether humor can be utilized to reduce stress, or promote wellbeing. Results are mixed. This outcome is due in part to the ways different kinds of humor may function in different circumstances for different individuals. Few studies have analyzed directly how humor may function in circumstances where it is generated in a natural context that is potentially threatening to highly relevant personal values. The family caregiving context provides a setting for generating narratives about how individuals cope with such circumstances. This study analyzes six caregiver narratives in terms of personal problem-solving processes and emotion regulation under conditions of chronic stress. This study addresses how caregiver-humor may function in this context. These caregivers exhibited and reported a variety of non-humorous coping strategies such as problem-solving to change aspects of the situation where appropriate. They evaluated and changed thoughts, feelings, and attitudes to develop new meaning, to find benefits, and to develop more integrated frames of reference for meeting caregiving challenges. Caregiver humor was embedded in this natural problem-solving process. This study extends support for the contentions from prior research and theory that humor can, under certain conditions, support stress relief and the development of attitudes that are conducive to promoting increased well-being in situations that seriously challenge or threaten valued outcomes. The personal experience narratives of these participants provide evidence that supports many humor theories and extends the range of their application. Participants utilized humor in ways that confront and to some extent resolve the incongruities of caregiving by regulating emotion and motivation, and by celebrating mastery and adaptation to life's challenges. The data support the proposition that, specifically, humor may diminish the impact of negative affect, and boost the motive power of positive affect in problem-solving processes. / text

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice

This study employed a qualitative hermeneutic methodology to compare and explore the stress faced by families caring for a family member with cancer or HIV/AIDS. Four 'Indian' families, two with a family member with cancer and two with a family member with HIV/AIDS, were purposiveiy sampled through NGOs in Pietermaritzburg and Durban. Generally it appeared that the illnesses brought about a range of stressors in families including fmancial and care-related stressors, role changes, difficulties accessing medical treatment, uncertainty and the psychological responses of family members. The impact of these on families was mediated by the families' abilities, social support, a variety of meaning factors and stigma. It did however, appear that families caring for a family member with HIV/AIDS had to cope with several additional burdens including coping with a more prolonged and variable period of illness, fears of infection, increased difficulties accessing medical treatment, less social support and stigma. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002. / Konrad Schrenk

Psychosocial oncology is well established in Europe and in America. Similar initiatives are, however, rare in Africa. On the African continent, psychosocial services are scarce and often a luxury although the importance of psychosocial variables as mediators in the paediatric cancer outcomes have been widely recognised. The apartheid system in South Africa was instrumental in causing major disparities in health, education and socioeconomic status. In order to provide a more holistic service it becomes imperative to assess not only the psychosocial needs and resources of both children and parents who endure the disease but also the influence of socio-demographic variables such as race, educational level and socioeconomic status. This research was limited to collecting baseline information on how parents and children communicate about the illness, emotional responses and the psychological resources that they utilise to deal with the childhood cancer trajectory. The study group consisted of 100 children between the ages of 5 and 16 years who had been diagnosed with cancer and one or both parents of those children. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and standardised self-report measures. The results of the study indicate that both parents and children did not suffer disabling psychopathology, but certainly evidenced symptoms of depression and anxiety indicative of adjustment difficulties. Communicating about the illness was generally limited to physiological aspects of the disease and medically related matters, while emotional issues were rarely articulated. Children, parents and their siblings relied heavily on medical staff for their information needs. The age of the child was a significant factor with reference to amount and complexity of information imparted to children: adolescents were given more information about the treatment and prognosis; while younger children were given a limited amount of information. Race, socioeconomic status and educational levels of parents not only influenced the meanings and beliefs families developed around the cancer experience, but also the manner in which they expressed their emotions and the coping strategies that they employed. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.