Primary and secondary control strategies and psychological well-being among familial caregivers of older adults with dementia

ABSTRACT

Caring for an older family member with dementia can be extremely challenging, often resulting in diminished psychological well-being. A wide range of both internally and externally directed behavioral strategies may serve to protect well-being among caregivers. Specifically, primary control strategies involve direct attempts to change one’s current situation, while secondary control strategies are attempts to inwardly adjust cognitions to align with the current situation. This study examined the use of multiple primary and secondary control strategies among familial caregivers (n = 110), as well as their associations with several indices of psychological well-being. Results showed that the most common primary and secondary control strategies, namely task persistence and positive reappraisal, were used with approximately equal frequency. Furthermore, the specific strategy of positive reappraisal seemed to bolster psychological well-being among caregivers. Findings indicate that primary control strategies might be less effective than secondary control strategies within the context of caregiving for a person with dementia.

KEYWORDS:

• dementia
• familial caregivers
• primary control strategies
• psychological well-being
• secondary control strategies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data-availability

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at https://commons.und.edu/psych-stu/1/

Open Scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open science badges for Open Materials. The materials are openly accessible at https://commons.und.edu/psych-stu/1/

Notes

1. The study materials can be found at https://commons.und.edu/psych-stu/1/

2. The sociodemographics reported include data on all 110 participants, with the exception of whether they were caring for additional dependents (n = 109).

3. A comparison of Canadian and American participants indicated that the Canadian caregivers were significantly older (M = 63.99 vs. M = 53.26), t(108) = 4.49, p < .001. Also, while most Canadian and American care recipients resided in the caregiver’s home, more Canadian care recipients resided in a long-term care home than somewhere else in the community, whereas the reverse was true for American care recipients, χ²(2) = 8.31, p = .016. The two groups did not differ on any other sociodemographic characteristics, nor in use of any of the control strategies.

4. Goal disengagement composites and total recent emotions were not computed for participants with missing data (n = 2 and 1, respectively).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nicole B. Haverstock

Nicole B. Haverstock is a Doctoral Candidate in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Dakota. Her research focuses on healthy aging and maintaining psychological well-being among caregivers.

Joelle C. Ruthig

Joelle C. Ruthig is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Dakota. Her research focuses on social psychological processes involved in health and healthy aging.

Judith G. Chipperfield

Judith G. Chipperfield is a Professor of Psychology and a research affiliate of the Centre on Aging and the Health, Leisure, and Human Performance Institute at the University of Manitoba. She is an internationally recognized scholar who studies the psychological aspects of health and illness in later life.