Informal caregivers’ negative affect: The interplay of caregivers’ resilience, aging anxiety and burden

Abstract

Objectives

This study focused on the negative affect of informal caregivers of older adults. In a novel investigation, the interplay of aging anxiety, caregiving burden, and resilience as a protective factor was examined, suggesting that aging anxiety and caregiving burden are mediators for the link between resilience and negative affect.

Methods

In a cross-sectional design, 191 Israeli informal caregivers of older adults (65+) participated in the study. They completed questionnaires that assessed demographic and caregiving characteristics, resilience, aging anxiety, caregiving burden, and negative affect.

Results

The findings showed a serial mediation process in which higher resilience predicted lower caregiving burden, which subsequently predicted lower aging anxiety, which subsequently predicted lower negative affect. However, the indirect path from resilience to aging anxiety and negative affect was non-significant.

Conclusion

Based on this study’s findings, the aging anxiety of informal caregivers of older adults should be professionally addressed in the early stages of caregiving because it contributes to the caregiving burden and negative affect. Additionally, resilience should be enhanced by psycho-social interventions tailored to address informal caregiver challenges that often induce caregiving burden and negative affect.

Keywords:

• aging anxiety
• caregiving burden
• informal caregivers
• negative affect
• older adults
• resilience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1964). It was approved by the Institutional Review Board, situated in a medical center in Israel (IRB No 0286-18-RMC). The participants were contacted individually to provide them with information about the study. Participants also received written information about the study that included a description of their legal rights regarding participation. All participants provided written informed consent for participation in the study prior to completion of the questionnaires.

Funding

YHR and RNG were funded by Ariel University Research Authority internal grant.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.