Perceived benefit or burden? How positive and negative spiritual/religious coping impacts family caregivers of people with dementia

ABSTRACT

Spiritual/religious coping can be a significant resource for individuals and families who are caring for a loved one with dementia. Little is known, however, about how different forms of spiritual/religious coping impact caregivers’ experiences of burden and benefit. This study examines the relationship between positive and negative spiritual/religious coping and caregiver burden and benefit among a sample of caregivers of people with dementia. Findings highlight the complex and multidimensional relationship that exists between spiritual/religious coping and caregivers’ perceptions of their experiences as burdensome or beneficial. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Benefit
• burden
• caregiving
• dementia
• religious coping

Acknowledgments

At the time of data collection, Dr. Jocelyn McGee was on faculty in the Department of Neurology at the Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center (ADMDC) at Baylor College of Medicine. The research team, for this study, wishes to express sincere gratitude for the ongoing work being conducted at the ADMDC on behalf of persons living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

We also wish to thank the families who participated in this study for their altruism and contributing their perspectives and lived experiences to other families who are living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

We acknowledge Brittany Kuka Phillips for data entry for the study and also Dr. Weiming Ke for consulting on statistical analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Conceptualization, J.S.M., D.M., E.C.P.; Methodology, J.S.M., D.M., E.C.P.; Formal Analysis, E.C.P.; Investigation, J.S.M., H.C.Z.; Resources, J.S.M.; Data Curation, J.S.M., H.C.Z.; Writing – original draft preparation, A.M., J.S.M., D.M., E.C.P.; Writing – review and editing, A.M., R.M., J.S.M., D.M., E.C.P.; Supervision, J.S.M.; Project Administration, J.S.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are not publicly available for the purposes of privacy and confidentiality of research participants.

Institutional review board statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Review Boards of Baylor University (protocol code #346183–1, date of approval: 8 July 2012) and Baylor College of Medicine (protocol code #H27755, date of approval: 20 July 2012).

Informed consent statement

Informed consent was obtained from all research participants in the study.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no external funding.