Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2015
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Behavioural Neurology
Volume
2015
DOI of Original Publication
10.1155/2015/507196
Date of Submission
December 2015
Abstract
The research literature has begun to demonstrate associations between personal strengths and enhanced psychosocial functioning of dementia caregivers, but these relationships have not been examined in the context of dementia caregivers in Latin America. The present study examined whether personal strengths, including resilience, optimism, and sense of coherence, were associated with mental and physical health related quality of life (HRQOL) in 130 dementia caregivers in Mexico and Argentina. Structural equation modeling found that the personal strengths collectively accounted for 58.4% of the variance in caregiver mental HRQOL, and resilience, sense of coherence, and optimism each had unique effects. In comparison, the personal strengths together accounted for 8.9% of the variance in caregiver physical HRQOL, and only sense of coherence yielded a unique effect. These results underscore the need to construct and disseminate empirically supported interventions based in part on important personal strengths, particularly sense of coherence, for this underrepresented group.
Rights
Copyright © 2015 Stephen K. Trapp et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Is Part Of
VCU Psychology Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/507196