Does self-care improve coping or does coping improve self-care? A structural equation modeling study.

Area of Science:

• Health Psychology
• Intervention Science

Background:

• Support interventions often target both self-care and coping strategies.
• Clarifying the distinct effects of self-care and coping interventions is crucial for guiding clinical practice and research.
• Different approaches exist to promote self-care and coping, necessitating a clear understanding of their impact.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare two structural equation models to determine the causal relationship between self-care and coping.
• To ascertain whether self-care enhances coping abilities or if coping improvements lead to better self-care.

Main Methods:

• Utilized cross-sectional data from 248 caregivers enrolled in a support intervention trial.
• Employed exploratory factor analysis to derive factor scores for caregiver demand, self-care, coping, stress appraisal, and mental health.
• Analyzed structural equation models, controlling for caregiver age, gender, relationship to patient, and income adequacy.

Main Results:

• Both self-care and coping models demonstrated good fit with the data, but the self-care model was superior.
• The self-care model explained significant variance in mental health (54%), stress appraisal (42%), and avoidance coping (10%).
• In contrast, the coping model explained less variance in stress appraisal (33%) and avoidance coping (0%).

Conclusions:

• The self-care model was strongest, indicating that self-care positively impacts stress reduction, coping enhancement, and mental health improvement.
• Findings suggest that interventions promoting self-care may yield greater benefits for mental health compared to those solely focused on improving coping mechanisms.
• Self-care acts as a foundational element, positively influencing stress, coping, and overall mental well-being in caregivers.