scholarly journals The Influence of Social Support and Care Burden on Depression among Caregivers of Patients with Severe Mental Illness in Rural Areas of Sichuan, China

Author(s):  
Xiaxia Sun ◽  
Jingjing Ge ◽  
Hongdao Meng ◽  
Zhiguo Chen ◽  
Danping Liu

Depression is one of the most common psychological consequences of caregiving. Caring for patients with severe mental illness (SMI) adds significant challenges to family caregivers’ mental health. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of depression among caregivers of SMI patients in rural areas of Sichuan province of China, to examine the influence of social support and care burden on depression, and to explore the intermediary effect of care burden between social support and depression among caregivers of SMI patients. Data were collected from 256 primary caregivers of SMI patients in rural Sichuan Province in China. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the hypothesized relationship among the variables. We found that a total of 53.5% of caregivers had depression. Both care burden (β = 0.599, 95%CI: 0.392–0.776) and social support (β = −0.307, 95%CI: (−0.494)–(−0.115)) were directly related to depression, while social support had a direct association with care burden (β = −0.506, 95%CI: (−0.672)–(−0.341)). Care burden mediated the relationship between social support and depression. For the socio-demographic variables, gender, education level and per capita annual income of household had significant correlations with depression (p < 0.05). The results strongly demonstrated that social support and care burden were predictors of depression, especially social support. Policymakers should fully recognize the role of primary family caregivers in caring for SMI patients and promote interventions to decrease care burden and reduce caregivers’ depression by improving social support and network. More attention should be given to female caregivers and caregivers with lower education and lower household income levels.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Su ◽  
Yuqiu Zhou ◽  
Jianqin Cao ◽  
Haina Wang

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to explore the relationship between social support, self-worth, self-reported health, and subjective well-being among the Chinese rural empty nest elderly, and whether self-worth and self-reported health affect these associations.Methods This cross-sectional study was performed from May 2017 to April 2018, the participants were 365 empty-nest elderly adults from rural areas of Chifeng City in Inner Mongolia. Data were collected with the General information questionnaire, Self-worth questionnaire for adults, Social Support Scale and Memorial University of New Found land Scale of Happiness. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation hypothesis. Bootstrapping was performed to confirm the mediation effect. Hayes’s SPSS-PROCESS was used for testing the moderating effects.Results Self-worth showed significant correlations with social support, self-reported health and subjective well-being (all P<0.01).Bootstrapping indicated that the mediating role of self-worth was statistically significant. And self-reported health moderated the social support and subjective well-being association.Conclusions Self-worth and self-reported health are important targets for prevention and intervention for improving the subjective well-being of the rural empty-nest elderly.


Author(s):  
Luísa Campos ◽  
Carlos Mota Cardoso ◽  
João Marques-Teixeira

The experience of caregiving in severe mental illness is a valuable concept for research and clinical practice as it can provide access to the idiosyncratic assessment of negative and positive dimensions of informal caregiving, thus allowing the design of interventions focused on reducing risk factors and promoting protective factors. This study was aimed at testing explanatory models of negative and positive experiences of caregiving considering the role of the caregiver’s perceptions of difficulties, satisfaction, and coping. A convenience sample of 159 informal caregivers of patients with schizophrenia was used in this study. Different variables were considered: (1) perception of difficulties (Caregiver’s Assessment of Difficulties Index); (2) perception of satisfaction (Caregiver’s Assessment of Satisfaction Index); (3) perception of coping (Caregiver’s Assessment of Managing Index); and (4) the experience of caregiving (Experience of Caregiving Inventory). Using structural equation modeling, the results revealed the following: (1) the perception of difficulties and of satisfaction coexist; (2) the negative experiences of caregiving are predominantly explained by the perception of difficulties and of coping with stress; and (3) the positive experiences of caregiving are mainly explained by the perception of sources of intrapersonal satisfaction, while the perception of coping does not have robust predictive value.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baiyang Zhang ◽  
Xin Lv ◽  
Mutian Qiao ◽  
Danping Liu

Objective: Depression is a common and overwhelming psychiatric disorder among family caregivers of persons with severe mental illness (SMI). The interrelationships among social support, loneliness, and depression, especially among this relatively vulnerable group, are poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the social support contributes to the alleviation of depression, through its effect on reducing loneliness.Methods: A survey of 256 rural family caregivers of persons with SMI was conducted between December 2017 and May 2018 in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China. Social support, loneliness and depression were measured. A series of multiple linear regression models and bootstrapping procedure were performed to examine the mediating effects of loneliness on the association between social support as well as its components and depression.Results: The proportion of family caregivers of persons with SMI who reported significant depressive symptoms was 53.5%. Loneliness fully mediated the negative association between social support and depression. As to three components of social support, subjective support and objective support only had indirect associations with depression mediated by loneliness, while support utilization had both direct and indirect relationships with depression.Conclusion: The current study highlighted that social support and its three components may acted as protective factors by decreasing the feelings of loneliness, which created a beneficial effect on depression among family caregivers of persons with SMI.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amaneh Mahmoudian ◽  
Abbas Shamsalinia ◽  
Atefeh Alipour ◽  
Zahra Fotokian ◽  
fatemeh ghaffari

Abstract BackgroundThe aim of the present study was to determine the factors affecting the abuse of the elderly by family caregivers among the elderly with hemodialysis (HD) using structural equation modeling.MethodThe study is descriptive-cross sectional, which is conducted in 2018 in Iran. The sample size was 367 in both groups (the elderly and their family caregivers). Data collection was done using an individual-social information questionnaire for the older adults under hemodialysis and their family caregivers, the questionnaire of elder abuse by family caregivers to the older people under hemodialysis, Zarit Burden Interview and the scale of instrumental activities of Daily Living (IADL). Data were analyzed by the SEM method. The Fitness of proposed pattern was measured using the following indexes: Chi-squared degree of freedom ratio (CMIN/DF), Parsimonious Normed Fit Index (PNFI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Parsimonious Comparative Fit Index (PCFI), Incremental fit index (IFI), Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). The significant level in this study was considered p <0.05.ResultsThe results of the present study showed that more than 70% of the elderly suffer from elder abuse by family caregivers on average. The highest median elder abuse was related to emotional misbehavior (21.46±6.09) and financial misbehavior (19.07±5.33), respectively. 63.2% of caregivers have experienced moderate care burden. 81.4% of women and 80.5% of older men needed help with daily activities. The results showed that the caregivers’ level of education and care burden with standard beta coefficient of -0.251 and 0.200 and the level of elderly’s education and IADL with the best beta coefficient of -0.299 and -0.234, had the highest regression effect on elder abuse respectively. According to the results, the model-fit indices of the hypothesized model was meet the criteria, with the PNFI= 0.746, PCFI= 0.796, IFI= 0.963, GFI=0.970, CFI=0.967, and RMSEA= 0.075. The outcome was suitable for the recommended level, so the hypothetical model appeared to fit the data.ConclusionProviding psychological interventions for family caregivers can reduce the burden when the elderly suffers from other chronic illnesses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amaneh Mahmoudian ◽  
Abbas Shamsalinia ◽  
Atefeh Alipour ◽  
Zahra Fotoukian ◽  
Fatemeh Ghaffari

Abstract Background The objectives of the present study were to determine the prevalence of older adults with hemodialysis (HD) abuse by family caregivers and the factors affecting it. Method This is a correlational-causal study, which is conducted in 2018 in Iran. The sample size was 367 in both groups (the older adults and their family caregivers). Data collection was done using an individual-social information questionnaire for the older adults under hemodialysis and their family caregivers, the questionnaire of elder abuse by family caregivers to the older people under hemodialysis, Zarit Burden Interview and the scale of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Data were analyzed by the structural equation model (SEM) method. The Fitness of proposed pattern was measured using the following indexes: chi-square/degree of freedom ratio (CMIN/DF), Normed Fit Index (NFI), comparative fit index (CFI), goodness of fit index (GFI), and standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR). The significant level in this study was considered p < 0.05. Results The results of the present study showed that more than 70 % of the older adults suffer from elder abuse by family caregivers on average. The highest median elder abuse was related to emotional misbehavior (21.46 ± 6.09) and financial misbehavior (19.07 ± 5.33), respectively. Moderate care burden was experienced by 63.2 % of caregivers. The percentage of older women and men, who needed help with daily activities was 81.4 and 80.5 %, respectively. The results showed that the caregivers’ level of education and care burden with standard beta coefficient of -0.251 and 0.200 and the educational level of older adults and IADL with the best beta coefficient of -0.299 and − 0.234, had the highest regression effect on elder abuse respectively. According to the results, the model-fit indices of the hypothesized model was meet the criteria, with the NFI = 0.951, GFI = 0.970, CFI = 0.967, and SRMR = 0.041. The outcome was suitable for the recommended level, so the hypothetical model appeared to fit the data. Conclusions The results of the present study showed that the prevalence of elder abuse by family caregivers among the older adults under hemodialysis is high. Providing psychological counseling can reduce the consequences of elder abuse.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 94-94
Author(s):  
Deborah Finkel ◽  
Per Bulöw ◽  
Pia Bulöw ◽  
Monika Wilińska ◽  
Cristina Joy Torgé ◽  
...  

Abstract As part of the process of de-institutionalizing the Swedish mental health care system, a reform was implemented in 1995 moving responsibility for social support for people with severe mental illness (SMI) from the county to social services in the municipalities. In many ways, older people with SMI were neglected in this changing landscape of psychiatric care. To investigate possible generational differences in support experiences, two nonoverlapping cohorts were created from surveys conducted every fifth year between 1996 and 2011 in one middle-sized municipality in the south of Sweden, aiming to detect the needs for social support. Cohort 1 includes everyone detected at the 1996 survey aged 65 and 79 years (N = 92). Cohort 2 includes individuals first detected at the 2011 survey who were aged 65 to 79 (N = 104). Results indicates significant differences between the two cohorts in diagnosis, reflecting changes over time in diagnostic tendencies. Cohort 1 was on average 10 years older than Cohort 2, even within the restricted age range. After correcting for age, there were no differences between the two cohorts in education, functioning (CAN and GAF), or marital status. Although Cohort 1 experienced more days of institutionalization than Cohort 2 (median = 424.5 days vs. 382 days), the difference was not statistically significant. Cohort 2 had significantly higher additional subsidies and disposable income, as well as significantly higher income from other sources after retirement. Results indicate the changing demands that older adults with SMI will place on care systems.


Author(s):  
Min Hwa Lee ◽  
Mi Kyung Seo

Aims: The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of the perceived coercion of people with mental illness living in a community on their therapeutic satisfaction and life satisfaction, mediated by therapeutic relationships. Methods: We evaluated several clinical variables (symptoms, psychosocial functioning, and insight), levels of perceived coercion, therapeutic relationships, therapeutic satisfaction, and life satisfaction in 185 people with mental illness (Mean age = 47.99, standard deviation (SD) = 12.72, male 53.0%, female 45.9%) who live in the community and use community-based mental health programs. The data collected were analyzed to test the proposed hypotheses using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: The correlation analysis of all variables showed that clinical variables had statistically significant correlations with therapeutic relationship, therapeutic satisfaction, and life satisfaction, but no significant correlation with perceived coercion. Furthermore, perceived coercion was found to have significant predictive power for treatment satisfaction and life satisfaction mediated by therapeutic relationship. Specifically, the lower the perceived coercion, the better the therapeutic relationship. This, in turn, has a positive effect on the therapeutic satisfaction and life satisfaction of participants. Conclusions: Based on these findings, we suggest strategies to minimize coercion in a community.


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