title: Appraisal, coping, hardiness, and self-perceived health in community-dwelling spouse caregivers of persons with dementia.
abstract: Although researchers have suggested that hardiness is associated with improved outcomes in stressful situations, findings regarding its moderating effects have been mixed. Relationships among hardiness, appraisal, coping, self-perceived health, and other antecedent variables were examined in a convenience sample of 72 community-dwelling spouse caregivers for persons with dementia. In this descriptive correlational design, participants completed a mailed survey. Regression analyses were used to detect main and moderating effects. Antecedent variables predicted 27% of the variance in caregiver appraisal, 23% of the variance in emotion-focused coping, and 22% of the variance in self-perceived health. In addition to its significant main effects, hardiness functioned as a significant moderator between the set of antecedent variables and caregiver appraisal. More research is needed to support the presence of main and moderating effects of hardiness in dementia caregivers.
authors.affiliation: Salisbury University, Department of Nursing, Salisbury, MD 21801, USA.
authors.forename: Mary C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: DiBartolo
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Soeken
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011340:Problem Solving; D012647:Self-Assessment; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014481:United States