Patterns and influencing factors of savoring in caregivers of advanced cancer patients: a latent profile study.

Abstract

Objective: Caregivers' positive affect benefits patients' and their well-being. Savoring is one important emotion regulation strategy to manage positive affect. Limited information about patterns of savoring hinders the development of targeted interventions to promote cancer caregivers' emotional well-being. The purpose of this study was to identify latent patterns of savoring and investigate influencing factors associated with the identified patterns among caregivers of people with advanced cancer.

Methods: Latent profile analysis was performed to identify savoring patterns based on savoring beliefs and strategies in 404 informal caregivers of patients with advanced cancer. Multinomial logistic regression analysis examined associated factors regarding different savoring profiles.

Results: Three latent profiles of savoring were identified. Individuals in high level of savoring (HS, 33.4%) showed the highest level of savoring and positive affect. Compared with HS, caregivers in low level of savoring (LS, 9.4%) and medium level of savoring (MS, 57.2%) showed lower savoring and lower positive affect. Active coping(β_MS = -0.109, β_LS = -0.252, p<0.001)was the strongest protecting factor for both MS and LS, while passive coping (β = 0.146, p = 0.008) was a risk factor for LS. Non-assistance from others (β = 0.677, p = 0.015) and unemployment (β = 1.287, p = 0.007)were the strongest risk factors for the MS and LS subgroup, respectively.

Conclusions: Caregivers' savoring patterns appear to vary at different levels. Oncological professionals should pay attention to caregivers with passive coping, unemployment, and lack of assistance for designing targeted savoring training to promote emotional well-being.