The increasing elderly population is creating a
greater need for care providers. Research indicates that
while caregiving can be rewarding, it can also generate
stress which, in turn, impacts individual well-being.
Social support, however, may foster the well-being of
persons who are experiencing stressful events.
The purpose of this study was to examine the
contribution of perceived social support from close family
(siblings, spouse, and children) and background
characteristics to well-being for a sample of women caring
for mothers who were not cognitively impaired. The sample
for this study (N=65) was drawn from a larger five year
western Oregon study of women caregivers (Walker, 1986),
and included only those women who: participated during the
third year of the larger study; were married; and had at
least one child and one sibling. Data were collected via
face-to-face interviews.
Pearson correlations and multiple regressions were
used to assess the contribution of family support and
background characteristics to well-being. Well-being, as
measured by the CES-D scale, was the dependent variable in
all regressions. The independent variables included the
caregiver's self-reported health, and her perceptions of
support (measured by supportiveness, positivity of contact,
and conflict) from siblings, spouse, and children.
Overall, results from this study indicated that women
caregivers' perceptions of relationships with close family
did impact their well-being. While measures designed to
tap supportiveness and positivity of contact were not
significantly related to well-being, conflict was.
Specifically, conflict with a spouse was associated with
lower well-being. Second to conflict with a spouse,
respondent's health was the strongest predictor of wellbeing:
poor health was significantly associated with lower
well-being.
In general, recommendations and implications focused
on the need for: (a) repeating this type of research among
other caregiver populations; (b) developing multidimensional
measures of family support; (c) services that
provide individuals with positive ways to deal with lifetensions
that foster interpersonal conflict; and (d)
services that target caregivers who are in poor health. / Graduation date: 1992
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/36324 |
| Date | 07 May 1992 |
| Creators | Oppy, Nancy Chun |
| Contributors | Zvonkovic, Anisa M. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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