The role of character strengths in predicting gains in informal caregivers of dementia

Abstract

Objectives

Although providing care to a person with dementia can have a negative impact, caregivers may also perceive certain benefits and gains through the tasks they perform. Our aim here was to study caregiver gains within the framework of positive psychology, exploring the predictive power of character strengths, while controlling for sociodemographic variables and variables related to the dementia and caring.

Methods

A sample of 105 main caregivers of people diagnosed with dementia completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Gain in Alzheimer care Instrument and the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths. Correlational analysis and hierarchical regression were conducted.

Results

Eighteen character strengths were positively and significantly correlated with gain scores. Regression analysis indicated that level of education was negatively related to gain scores. In addition, hope was the character strength which best predicted the gain score, such that caregivers who scored higher on hope tended to perceive greater benefits from their role.

Conclusion

The results suggest that hope may play an important role in relation to the perceived gains of caregiving. Intervention programmes based on positive psychology and aimed at enhancing character strengths, especially hope, could help caregivers to identify the positive aspects of their caring role.

Keywords:

• Caregiver VIA
• GAIN
• virtues positive psychology

Acknowledgement

We thank the VIA Institute on Character for providing us with the VIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.