Mental Distress during the Coronavirus Pandemic in Israel: Who Are the Most Vulnerable?

Based on Pearlin’s stress process model and the social inequality approach to health, this study used a social lens to explore the role of socioeconomic inequities in mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. Specifically, we examined people’s pre-pandemic sociodemographic characteristics and economic situation, and the economic effects of the pandemic itself on mental distress. A real-time survey was conducted in May 2020 among 273 adults (ages 20–68), and hierarchical linear models were employed. Findings indicated that groups vulnerable to mental distress in routine times (e.g., women, people with economic difficulties) showed the same pattern during the pandemic. Not only was unemployment related to mental distress, so too was a reduction in work hours. The pandemic’s economic effects (e.g., needing to take out loans, having a worsening financial situation) were also associated with increased mental distress. This study is one of very few studies to explore a wide range of socioeconomic factors and their association with mental distress during the current crisis. The findings call for broader interventions to alleviate the economic distress caused by the pandemic to promote mental health, especially for groups that were vulnerable before the crisis and those most affected economically following the pandemic.

Caring Beyond the Challenges: Grit in Dementia Family Caregivers

Scholars and practitioners recognize the importance of family caregivers for persons with dementia (PwD) persevering through difficulties and remaining committed to providing care (i.e., possessing grit). Based on Pearlin’s stress process model, we examined how grit is associated with stressors and strains that interfere with caregiver well-being and jeopardize continued caregiving. The sample included 158 family caregivers of PwD from rural Appalachia. SEM analysis revealed that grit and family and friend affectual solidarity contributed significantly to mastery. Grit and family solidarity were associated indirectly with role overload through their effect on mastery. Results demonstrate the value of acknowledging the role of grit in enhancing caregivers’ confidence about managing difficulties they face and reducing their sense of being overwhelmed by caregiving responsibilities. Thus, strengthening dementia caregivers’ commitment to and perseverance in their role is crucial for sustaining their motivation to provide care, despite the challenges they face.

Family Caregivers and Support: Implications for Work Strain and Formal Service Use

In the US, many employed caregivers make professional adjustments, exacerbating already tenuous balances between work and life. Using the framework of the Stress Process Model (SPM), current research examines the sources of support (both formal and informal) and the contextual factors that facilitate or impede caregiver support. In this research, we examine whether and to what extent caregiver work strain is ameliorated by the presence of additional family caregivers and formal service use. This study utilizes data provided by the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) data. Using panel methods for the pooled waves, we analyze the associations between work-strain and the number of additional caregivers with utilization of formal support (such as paid service support). Preliminary analyses align with the Stress Process Model as additional caregivers for each respective care-recipient is associated with lower levels of work strain. On the other hand, utilization of formal services (paid help and Medicaid funding) is positively associated with work strain. These findings suggest that the number of additional caregivers can reduce the negative impact of caregiving on work related strain among employed caregivers. That is, multiple caregivers may be more reflective of cooperative arrangements which offset work disruptions that occur with the onset of caregiving. In addition, formal sources may more frequently be used as a last resort to address caregiver burnout. Ongoing analyses are examining changes in the number of caregivers and its impact on disruptive work event, which could lead to financial outcomes for caregivers.

Child Maltreatment and Subjective Well-being in Chinese Emerging Adults: A Process Model Involving Self-esteem and Self-compassion

Child maltreatment is negatively associated with subjective well-being in emerging adulthood, but the understanding of the mechanisms of this relationship is incomplete. Guided by the stress process model incorporated with a life-course perspective, the present study examined the protective roles of self-related resources (self-esteem and self-compassion) in this association, while considering various maltreatment types (physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse). The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, Self-compassion Scale, and Satisfaction with Life Scale were used to measure the key variables through an online survey of 358 Chinese college students (226 females, mean age = 19.18) Direct effect of one type of maltreatment on life satisfaction and the three indirect effects through (a) self-esteem; (b) self-compassion; and (c) self-esteem and self-compassion in sequence were examined while controlling for age, gender, and the other four maltreatment types. The results showed that psychological maltreatment was negatively associated with life satisfaction through self-esteem and through the pathway from self-esteem to self-compassion. Indirect effects of the other three types of maltreatment were not significant. This suggests that self-processes are more vulnerable to psychological maltreatment than to other maltreatment types. The type of maltreatment experienced in childhood is worth considering when investigating the extending effect of child maltreatment on individual developmental outcomes. Our findings broaden the understanding of the mechanisms of the stress process model integrated with a life-course perspective. Self-related resources appear to play substantial roles in the long-term association between early stressors of psychological maltreatment in childhood and subjective well-being in emerging adulthood. Highlighting the need to work on improved self-related resources, including self-compassion and self-esteem, might help practitioners to provide treatment for survivors of adverse childhood experiences..

Perceptions of Caregiving: Racial Examinations of Resiliency and Stress

Adult children are at risk of emotional strain when parental caregiving needs emerge. Pearlin’s Stress Process Model (1990) and caregiver studies suggest minority caregivers report lower subjective caregiving burden, however, few studies simultaneously consider both the stresses and rewards of caregiving. Using data from Wave II of the Family Exchange Study (N = 243), we examine racial differences in midlife adults’ perceptions (i.e., stress and rewards) of assisting their parents with activities of daily living (ADLs) and the associations between perceptions of ADL assistance and emotional well-being among adults who help their parents with ADLs. Compared to non-minority caregivers (M = 4.18, SD = 0.91), minority caregivers (M = 4.45, SD = 0.84) found it more rewarding to help their mother (t(314) = -2.54, p < .05), whereas non-minority caregivers (M = 2.25, SD = .1.27) found it more stressful to help their father than did minority caregivers (M = 1.64, SD = 0.99), t(162) = 3.01, p < .01). After controlling for demographics and ADL needs, linear regression analyses revealed that the stress of helping parents predicted depression (F(6, 189) = 5.30, p < .001) and race moderated the association (p < .01); the association was only significant for minority caregivers (p < .05). Implications will be discussed.

Identifying Care-Related Needs of Family Caregivers of People With Dementia: Beyond the Stress Process Model

The psychosocial stress process model (Pearlin et al., 1990) remains a dominant theoretical framework characterizing the transactions between factors affecting outcomes of informal caregivers of people with dementia (PWD). Despite widespread agreement that the model provides an important framework for understanding caregiver experiences and predicting caregiver outcomes, it is not sufficient to clarify the needs of caregivers. Needs are conceptualized as the skills and resources that could be used to ameliorate the negative impacts of caregiving and promote quality of life (Gitlin & Hodgson, 2015). Determining caregiver needs requires appreciation of the complex background, contextual, and stress-related variables described in the stress process model and requires empirically- and theoretically-driven understanding of the diverse resources, materials, and skills that individuals require for global health and functioning. In this study, we conducted a content analysis of existing measures of dementia caregiver needs (N = 54), content analysis of materials related to evidence-based dementia caregiver interventions and government reports and documents (N = 28), and semi-structured in-depth interviews with current caregivers of PWD (N = 12) to identify the personal and care-related needs of family caregivers of PWD. We propose a framework of five inter-related need categories (Health-related needs, environmental needs, psychological needs, social needs, and needs related to the care and functioning of the PWD) that transact with the factors described in the stress process model, ultimately influencing functioning. In the future, we plan to test this model empirically with a nationally representative sample of caregivers.

Dementia Caregiving and Cognition: An Extension of the Stress Process Model

As cases of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) continue to rise, informal caregivers are critical resources in providing dementia care, yet caregiving is associated with high levels of burden, stress, anxiety and depression. Caregiving can be a prolonged and stressful experience, and impaired cognitive functioning in caregivers could impact their own health and quality of life and compromise the quality of care provided to their care-recipient. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to use the Stress Process Model as a guiding theoretical framework to identify whether primary stressors (e.g., care recipient functional status, cognitive problems) or secondary stressors (e.g., loss of self, economic conflict) predict performance across seven domains of cognition in 50 primary ADRD caregivers. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine which primary and secondary stressors emerge as predictors of cognitive performance. Results indicated that primary stressors (e.g., problematic dementia behaviors and relational deprivation) significantly predicted working memory performance and secondary stressors (e.g., economic strain, loss of self) significantly predicted implicit memory performance. Additionally, higher levels of caregiver burden predicted worse performance on executive functioning and implicit memory measures. Overall, the findings of this study indicate that the stress associated with caregiving may have adverse effects beyond psychosocial outcomes, and findings can be used to inform policies and practices with regard to caregiver health and well-being.

They Drive Me Crazy: Difficult Social Ties and Subjective Well-Being

Using egocentric network data from the University of California Social Networks Study (1,136 respondents; 11,536 alters), this study examines how difficult ties—an unexplored form of social negativity—are associated with well-being. Findings show that well-being is affected by the quality of the relationship rather than its presence in the network. Having a nondifficult partner is associated with lower loneliness compared to having no partner, but having no partner and having a difficult partner are related to similar levels of loneliness. Likewise, having difficult adult children and having no adult children are associated with reporting greater psychological distress than having nondifficult adult children. Consistent with the stress process model, the negative association of a difficult partner with well-being is buffered when that partner is otherwise supportive and when the other ties in the network are supportive. However, that association is amplified when the other ties are also difficult.