Relationships Between Cultural Perspectives and Family Caregiver Burden in the Dementia Population.

Abstract

Dementia diagnoses are increasing in the United States, causing impairments across multiple domains of functioning. Informal care provided by family caregivers can benefit those with declining cognitive function. However, this can lead to subjective and objective caregiver burden. As the United States' population becomes more diverse, literature on these topics does not fully account for cultural characteristics. The current study examined the association between key variables including cultural identity (individualism/collectivism), coping styles, and caregiver burden. A sample of 253 family caregivers of those with dementia (ages 20-78) completed a survey through Prolific, an online research platform. Sociodemographic characteristics consisted of varying racial identities, gender identities, and socioeconomic statuses. Measures included several rating scales, and statistical analyses examined the relationships between these variables. Maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies are important to the dementia family caregiver population in relation to subjective caregiver burden, which has implications for predicting health outcomes. Results demonstrated imperative considerations in the link between individualism and subjective caregiver burden. Follow-up subgroup analyses on three demographic factors displayed supplementary informative patterns. This study is one of the first widespread explorations to move towards understanding the distinctive relationships between sociocultural characteristics of caregivers. These complexities should continue to be examined to help inform effective, yet culturally competent, community-based interventions tailored towards family caregivers managing difficulties presented by a dementia diagnosis. Findings are applicable to concrete clinical directions, and a future study could test an intervention that focuses on increasing adaptive strategies, while decreasing maladaptive strategies.