Caregivers - Who copes; Who doesn't?

Despite the overwhelming emphasis in caregiver research on stress and burden, random samples of caregivers suggest that most cope. We know caregivers use a variety of strategies in order to cope including for example, self-management techniques, cognitive restructuring, seeking help, emotional coping, problem coping and support seeking coping. Simultaneously, there is much research on psychological concepts such as resilience, hardiness and neuroticism, but much less of this research has applied these concepts to caregivers and specifically to caregiver coping. This study examined the role of a variety of psychological factors together with demands of caregiving and background characteristics in problem solving coping, a type of coping that is considered beneficial. Data come from a sample of caregivers living in the community caring for seniors living in the community on Vancouver Island, Canada. Data were collected in face-to-face interviews. Findings demonstrate that the psychological factor of neuroticism and the social support factor of informal assistance to the caregiver are strongly related to whether or not caregivers cope using problem focused coping. Other psychological factors such as resilience and hardiness are unrelated. The findings are discussed in terms of ways to assist caregivers to cope, and the need for more research on psychological factors related to positive coping.