title: Resilience in the initial year of caregiving for a family member with a traumatic spinal cord injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Individuals who assume caregiving duties for a family member disabled in a traumatic injury often exhibit considerable distress, yet few studies have examined characteristics of those who may be resilient in the initial year of caregiving. Reasoning from the influential Pearlin model of caregiving (Pearlin & Aneshensel, 1994) and the resilience process model (Bonanno, 2005), we expected a significant minority of caregivers would be chronically distressed and another group would be resilient throughout the inaugural year of caregiving for a person with a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), and these groups would differ significantly in primary and secondary stress and in personal resources and mediators.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty men and 108 women who identified as caregivers for a family member who incurred a traumatic SCI consented to complete measures during the inpatient rehabilitation and at 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months postdischarge.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Latent growth mixture modeling of depression symptoms over time revealed 3 groups of caregivers: chronic (24%), recovery (24%) and resilient (48%). The chronic group reported more anxiety, negative affect, and ill health than the other 2 groups throughout the year. The resilient group was best characterized by their enduring levels of positive affect and supportive social networks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A large percentage of individuals are resilient in the initial year of caregiving, and those who have problems adapting exhibit significant distress soon following the traumatic event. Early detection of and psychological interventions for individuals who have difficulty adjusting are indicated, as their distress is unlikely to abate untreated over the year.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology.
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Samford University.
authors.forename: Jack W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama.
authors.forename: J Scott
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Administration, University of Alabama.
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Shewchuk
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D054541:Family Conflict; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009341:Negativism; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000451:nursing*; D013997:Time Factors