scholarly journals Self-esteem, self-efficacy, and optimism as psychological resources among caregivers of people with dementia: findings from the IDEAL study

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 1259-1266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth A. Lamont ◽  
Catherine Quinn ◽  
Sharon M. Nelis ◽  
Anthony Martyr ◽  
Jennifer M. Rusted ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTObjectives:Being a family caregiver, and in particular giving care to someone with dementia, impacts mental and physical health and potentially reduces the ability of caregivers to “live well.” This paper examines whether three key psychological resources—self-efficacy, optimism, and self-esteem—are associated with better outcomes for caregivers of people with dementia.Design and Participants:Caregivers of 1,283 people with mild-to-moderate dementia in the Improving the Experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life (IDEAL) project responded to measures of self-efficacy, optimism, and self-esteem, and “living well” (quality of life, life satisfaction, and well-being). Multivariate linear regression was used to examine the association between psychological resources and “living well”.Results:Self-efficacy, optimism, and self-esteem were all independently associated with better capability to “live well” for caregivers. This association persisted when accounting for a number of potential confounding variables (age group, sex, and hours of caregiving per day).Conclusions:Low self-efficacy, optimism, and self-esteem might present a risk of poor outcomes for caregivers of people with dementia. These findings encourage us to consider how new or established interventions might increase the psychological resilience of caregivers.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yamama Abd Al-Qadr ◽  
Yaacov J Katz

The aim of the present research study was to compare the relationships between identity (nationalistic, religious and ethnic), socialization processes (home and school), and psychological resilience (self-esteem, self-efficacy, and well-being) of Arab-Palestinian and Jewish high school students in Israel.317 tenth and eleventh grade students (163 Arab-Palestinian students including 93 girls and 70 boys; and 154 Jewish students including 70 girls and 84 boys) participated in the study. The research was conducted in two state Arab-Palestinian schools, one state secular-Jewish school, and one state religious-Jewish school.The research employed a series of questionnaires. First, a background questionnaire was used to collect basic data about the students; a second questionnaire assessed the nationalistic and religious socialization of the Jewish teenagers and the nationalistic, religious, and ethnic socialization of the Arab-Palestinian adolescents; a third questionnaire assessed the salience of national and religious identity among the Jewish participants, and the salience of national, religious, and ethnic identity among the Arab-Palestinian participants; a fourth questionnaire examined indices of psychological resilience, namely self-esteem, self-efficacy, and the sense of well-being of the Arab-Palestinian and Jewish students. The research findings indicate differences between the socialization processes experienced by the Arab-Palestinian students and those experienced by the Jewish students. The nationalistic socialization experienced by the Jewish adolescents was stronger than that experienced by the Arab-Palestinian adolescents, while the Arab-Palestinian adolescents experienced stronger religious socialization than that experienced by the Jewish adolescents. In addition, the level of religious identity was higher among the Arab-Palestinian participants than among the Jewish participants. On the other hand, there were no significant differences between the two groups regarding salience of national identity. The findings did not indicate differences between the two groups with regard to self-esteem and well-being. However, the self-efficacy of the Arab-Palestinian students was found to be higher than that of the Jewish students.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S39-S39
Author(s):  
Christina Victor ◽  
Elizabeth B Fauth

Abstract The IDEAL research programme is national nine-year (2014-2022) ESRC/NIHR/Alzheimer’s Society UK funded longitudinal cohort study of 1547 people with mild to moderate dementia and 1283 family members or friends who provide support and aims to identify what promotes (or inhibits) people living well with dementia and their carers and how these change longitudinally. Loneliness and/or isolation are key indicators of quality of life and living well is posited as a factor which compromises wellbeing. Loneliness was measured using both the six-item de Jong Gierveld (DJG) scale (range 0-6) and isolation by the six-item Lubben social network scale (range 0 to 30). The three presentations in this symposium use data from the baseline assessment. Clare focuses upon the 18.5% of our participants who live alone and compares them with those living with others and suggests that there are few systematic differences in terms of cognition, psychological factors and well-being between these groups. Using a score of 5+ on the DJG scale, Victor reports that for people with dementia 5 % were severely lonely, which approximates to the national norm, compared with 17% for caregivers. For social isolation people with dementia had smaller social networks (mean =15.1) and higher levels of isolation as measured by a score of 12 or less on the Lubben scale (35%) compared with caregivers (mean network size=17.1 and 18% isolated). Victor and Clare use dyad data for 1089 pairs for loneliness and 1204 for isolation demonstrating congruence of 43% for loneliness and 68% for isolation


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-138
Author(s):  
Linda Clare ◽  
Anthony Martyr ◽  
Robin G. Morris ◽  
Lynette J. Tippett

Background: The onset and progression of dementia can result in changes in the subjective experience of self, impacting on psychological health. Objective: We aimed to explore the extent to which people with mild-to-moderate dementia experience discontinuity in the subjective experience of self, and the factors associated with this experience for people with dementia and their family caregivers. Methods: We used data from the baseline assessment of the IDEAL cohort. Discontinuity in the subjective experience of self was assessed by asking participants about their agreement with the statement ‘I feel I am the same person that I have always been’. Participants were divided into those who did and did not experience discontinuity, and the two groups were compared in terms of demographic and disease-related characteristics, psychological well-being, measures of ‘living well’, and caregiver stress. Results: Responses to the continuity question were available for 1,465 participants with dementia, of whom 312 (21%) reported experiencing discontinuity. The discontinuity group experienced significantly poorer psychological well-being and had significantly lower scores on measures of ‘living well’. There was no clear association with demographic or disease-related characteristics, but some indication of increased caregiver stress. Conclusion: A significant proportion of people with mild-to-moderate dementia describe experiencing discontinuity in the subjective sense of self, and this is associated with poorer psychological health and reduced ability to ‘live well’ with the condition. Sensitively asking individuals with dementia about the subjective experience of self may offer a simple means of identifying individuals who are at increased risk of poor well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Alexander ◽  
Anthony Martyr ◽  
Laura D. Gamble ◽  
Sharon A. Savage ◽  
Catherine Quinn ◽  
...  

Abstract Background People living with dementia vary in awareness of their abilities. We explored awareness of the condition and diagnosis in people with mild-to-moderate dementia, and how this relates to quality of life, well-being, life satisfaction, and caregiver stress. Methods This study was a cross-sectional exploratory analysis of data from the IDEAL cohort, which recruited people with dementia living at home and available caregivers from 29 research sites in Great Britain. Our study included 917 people with mild-to-moderate dementia and 755 carers. Low and high awareness groups were derived from self-reported responses to a dementia representation measure. Logistic regression was used to explore predictors of awareness of condition and diagnosis using demographic, cognitive, functional and psychological measures, and the relationship with quality of life, well-being and life satisfaction (‘living well’), and caregiver stress. Results There were 83 people with low awareness of their condition. The remaining 834 people showed some awareness and 103 of these had high awareness of their condition and diagnosis. Psychosocial factors were stronger predictors of awareness than cognitive and functional ability. Those with higher awareness reported lower mood, and lower scores on indices of living well as well as lower optimism, self-efficacy and self-esteem. Low awareness was more likely in those aged 80y and above, and living in more socially deprived areas. No relationship was seen between caregiver stress and awareness. Conclusions Awareness of the condition and diagnosis varies in people with mild-to-moderate dementia and is relevant to the capability to live well. Awareness should be considered in person-centered clinical care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
David John Hallford ◽  
Jorge Javier Ricarte ◽  
Dirk Hermans

The coherence of autobiographical memories plays an important role in psychological well-being, as borne out by recent studies. This study aimed to advance this understanding by assessing whether coherence predicted depressive symptoms over time in adults. Further, it aimed to specify mediators through which this association might occur, namely psychological resources of self-esteem self-efficacy, meaning in life, and optimism. A sample of 160 participants (M age = 26.4, SD = 3.2, 58.1% women) completed surveys at three time-points spaced 1 week apart. The surveys contained measures of the perceived coherence of life stories and autobiographical memories, psychological resources, and depressive symptoms. The results of a path analysis model, controlling for depressive symptoms at baseline, indicated that perceived causal coherence was the only unique predictor of later depressive symptoms, and that this occurred through positive self-concept, represented by self-esteem and self-efficacy. Limitations of the study include no examination of cultural background as a moderating factor and the short time-intervals. Overall, the findings provide further evidence that the perception of how events have unfolded and impacted on one's life and sense of self is particularly important in mitigating depressive symptoms. It extends on our understanding by showing this occurs through changes in self-concept.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Sherry A. Maykrantz ◽  
Luke A. Langlinais ◽  
Jeffery D. Houghton ◽  
Christopher P. Neck

As COVID-19 has become a global pandemic, health researchers and practitioners have focused attention on identifying the factors that may help to shape health-protective behaviors, protecting individual health and well-being, and helping to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This study explores the potential role of self-leadership and psychological capital (PsyCap) as key cognitive resources for shaping health-protective behaviors. Using multiple theoretical frameworks (social cognitive theory, psychological resources theory, and the health belief model), this paper develops and tests a hypothesized serial mediation model in which PsyCap and coping self-efficacy mediate the relationship between self-leadership and health-protective behaviors including hand washing, wearing face masks, and social distancing. Results suggest that PsyCap and coping self-efficacy mediate the positive relationship between self-leadership and health-protective behaviors. These results yield valuable insights regarding the usefulness of self-leadership and PsyCap as cognitive resources for shaping health-protective behaviors and for possible self-leadership and PsyCap interventions, potentially tailored to at-risk populations, which should have practical benefits for both the current and future pandemics and health crises.


Author(s):  
Pilar Sanjuan ◽  
David Guillen ◽  
Ana María Pérez-García

 Abstract: Personality traits and psychological resources as predictors of emotional well-being in adolescents with and without training in bullfighting schools. The main objective of this study was to analyse how being in training in bullfighting schools can affect the emotional well-being (EW), the personality and the psychological resources of adolescents. The sample consisted of 196 boys, 95 from bullfighting school group (BSG) and 101 from a control group (CG). The BSG, in relation to CG, scored significantly more on conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness to experience, as well as on self-efficacy, problem-solving (PSC) and social support coping (SSC), and EW. The EW was predicted by feeling self-efficacy and not using avoidance coping, and in the CG by being extraverted, showing conscientiousness, being low in neuroticism, feeling self-efficacy and using PSC and SSC. It discusses the psychological adaptive profile of adolescents in the BSG and the need to promote well-being in adolescence through the promotion of self-efficacy and active coping.Resumen: El objetivo principal de este estudio fue analizar cómo la formación en escuelas de tauromaquia puede afectar al bienestar emocional (BE), la personalidad y los recursos psicológicos de los adolescentes. Participaron 196 chicos, 95 del grupo de escuelas taurinas (GET) y 101 del grupo control (GC). El GET, en relación con el GC, puntuaba significativamente más en tesón, afabilidad y apertura, así como en autoeficacia, afrontamiento de solución de problemas (ASP) y basado en los demás (AD), y BE. El BE se predecía en el GET por sentirse eficaz y no usar el afrontamiento de evitación, y en el GC por ser extravertido, mostrar tesón, ser bajo en neuroticismo, sentirse eficaz y emplear el ASP y AD. Se discute sobre el perfil psicológico adaptativo que presentan los adolescentes del GET y la necesidad de promover el bienestar en la adolescencia mediante el fomento de la autoeficacia y el afrontamiento activo.


2019 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 410-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane E. Machin ◽  
Natalie Ross Adkins ◽  
Elizabeth Crosby ◽  
Justine Rapp Farrell ◽  
Ann M. Mirabito

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