Psychosocial factors and caregivers’ distress: Effects of familism and dysfunctional thoughts

Abstract

Introduction: Caring for a relative with dementia is linked with negative psychological and physical consequences for the caregiver. The number of studies analyzing the influence of specific values and thoughts on caregivers’ distress remains sparse.

Objectives and method: The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of both familism dimensions and dysfunctional thoughts specific to caregiving on depression in a sample of 334 dementia caregivers.

Results: The results of this study suggest that familism can have positive influences on caregiving distress when the family is perceived as a source of support. However, the dimensions of familism pertaining to a strong adherence to values regarding both feelings of obligation to provide support as well as behaviors and attitudes that should be followed by different members of a family were linked with caregivers’ distress through their influence on dysfunctional thoughts.

Conclusion: This study provides support for the importance of conceptualizing familism as a multidimensional construct with both positive and negative effects on caregivers’ emotional distress and suggests that familism affects emotional distress through dysfunctional thoughts rather than through burden appraisals. Clinical implications include attending to both the positive and negative effects of familism values and the potential value of targeting dysfunctional thoughts in cognitive-behavioral interventions with caregivers.

Keywords:

• caregiving
• dementia
• depression
• social support
• stress and coping

Acknowledgments

The preparation of this article was supported in part by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (Grant SEJ2006-02489/PSIC).