SOCIAL SUPPORT, SELF-WORTH AND HOPE AS SELF-CARE RESOURCES FOR COPING WITH CAREGIVER STRESS (ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE).
Contributors: University of Texas at Austin.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 186
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Gerontology.; Health Sciences, Mental Health.
Description: The problem addressed in this study is the lack of knowledge about the ways in which caregivers adapt to the chronic stress of caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease. The purpose of this correlational study was to develop and test a mid-range model derived from the theory of Modeling and Role-Modeling (Erickson, Tomlin & Swain, 1983) which explained the relationships among perceived social support, self-worth and hope as self-care resources for coping with caregiver stress in the context of Alzheimer's disease. The study comprised the first phase of testing a larger model of caregiver stress-adaptation and provided useful information related to the model structure and evaluation as well as implications for nursing practice, research and mid-range theory development.

The sample consisted of 107 primary caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease recruited through a variety of sources in the greater central Texas area. Data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed using a path model and regression procedures. Instruments included the Personal Resource Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Miller Hope Scale and the Burden Interview.

Results of the study showed that responses to stressors may be mediated somewhat by self-care resources such as hope, self-worth and perceived social support. There were moderate to strong relationships among the variables in the expected directions. Social support directly explained 19% of the variance in self-worth as well as 34% of the variance in hope. In addition, social support was shown to have an indirect effect on hope through self-worth. Adding self-worth to the regression equation increased the explained variance in hope to 56%. Thus, the proposition that feelings of worthiness result in a sense of hope for the future was supported.

Social support directly explained 18% of the variance in stress. Further, the addition of self-worth to the equation increased explained variance in stress to 23%. Path analysis demonstrated that hope had a direct and positive effect on stress, explaining 15% of the variance. However, empirical testing of the full model showed that hope did not make any significant contribution toward explaining variance in stress after social support and self-worth had entered the equation. A goodness-of-fit test showed that the theoretical model had a moderate fit with the data (Q =.90). Further testing of the model is recommended.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-06, Section: B, page: 2995.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, 1993.

School code: 0227.