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Published Online: February 2013

Rewards of Caregiving and Coping Strategies of Caregivers of Patients With Mental Illness

Abstract

Objective

The study sought to broaden the focus of research on caregivers’ burden by examining caregiving rewards and their relation to coping skills.

Methods

Data from semistructured interviews with 60 family caregivers of patients with mental illness in Germany were examined by content analysis. Information was gathered with the Freiburg Questionnaire on Coping With Illness. Both t tests and regression analyses were used to analyze data.

Results

Caregivers made 413 statements about rewards, which were assigned to six categories. “Gratitude and affection from the patient” was the most frequently cited, and “active, problem-oriented coping” was the coping strategy most used. Three variables predicted identification of a greater number of rewards, explaining 39% of variance: “increased religiousness and searching for meaning,” “caregiver’s younger age,” and “more statements about burden.”

Conclusions

To support caregivers, a shift in orientation from focusing on burden to emphasizing resources is necessary.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services
Cover: Tommy, by Mitchell Siporin, 1943. Gouache, 9 × 7 inches. Courtesy of the estate of the artist and the Susan Teller Gallery, New York City.
Psychiatric Services
Pages: 185 - 188
PubMed: 23203418

History

Published in print: February 2013
Published online: 15 October 2014

Authors

Details

Linda Sterzinger, M.Sc.
Franziska Koepke, M.Sc.
Hermann Spiessl, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Bauer, Ms. Sterzinger, and Ms. Koepke are affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstrasse 84, 93042 Regensburg, Germany (e-mail: [email protected]).
Prof. Spiessl is with the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, State Hospital Landshut, Landshut, Germany.

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