Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

3-2016

Abstract

Dementia is a global health issue and the effects on caregivers are substantial. The study aimed to examine the associations of burden, coping, self-efficacy with quality of life among family caregivers of persons with dementia in Singapore. Structured interviews were conducted in a convenience sample of 84 family caregivers caring and seeking clinical care for the persons with dementia in an outpatient clinic of a public hospital in Singapore. The outcome measures included the Family Burden Interview Schedule, Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scale, General Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale, and World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale – Brief Version. In general, significant correlations were observed between the quality of life scores with coping strategy and family burden scores, but not between the coping strategy and family burden scores. Compared to demographic factors such as caregiver age and household income, psychosocial factors including family burden, coping strategies, and self-efficacy demonstrated greater association with quality of life in the participants. However, the dynamics of these associations will change with an increasing population of persons with dementia, decreasing nuclear family size, and predicted changes in family living arrangements for the persons with dementia in future. As such, it necessitates continuous study examining the needs and concerns of family caregivers and the relevance of ongoing interventions specific to caregivers of persons with dementia.

Keywords

burden, coping, dementia, family caregiver, QoL, self-efficacy

Discipline

Family, Life Course, and Society | Psychology

Research Areas

Psychology

Publication

Dementia

Volume

15

Issue

2

First Page

204

Last Page

220

ISSN

1741-2684

Identifier

10.1177/1471301214522047

Publisher

SAGE

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301214522047

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