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Benefit finding and resilience in child caregivers
Tony Cassidy1, Melanie Giles, Marian McLaughlin
1School of Psychology, University of Ulster, Coleraine, UK.
British Journal of Health Psychology
|July 23, 2013
Summary
Young caregivers experience benefits and resilience despite caregiving demands. Benefit finding, linked to social recognition and family support, positively impacts health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Health Services Research
- Family Studies
Background:
- Children often serve as informal caregivers, contributing significantly to healthcare.
- While caregiving presents challenges, emerging evidence suggests potential benefits for young caregivers.
- Previous research focused on mitigating negative outcomes rather than fostering resilience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate benefit finding and resilience in young caregivers within a stress and coping framework.
- To explore the relationship between caregiving burden, benefit finding, and resilience.
- To identify factors associated with positive outcomes in child caregivers.
Main Methods:
- A survey design was employed, collecting questionnaire data from 442 children (aged 12-16).
- Hierarchical multiple regression analysis (HMRA) was used to analyze the data.
- The study examined the impact of caregiving on both positive and negative health outcomes.
Main Results:
- Resilience and benefit finding significantly explained variance in positive health and mediated caregiving impact.
- Benefit finding was also significant for negative health outcomes.
- An inverse relationship was found between caregiving burden and both benefit finding and resilience.
Conclusions:
- Young caregivers demonstrate benefit finding and resilience, even with inverse relationship to burden.
- Benefit finding appears associated with social recognition of the caregiving role and family support.
- These findings highlight the importance of support systems and role acknowledgment for young caregivers.
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