Abstract

Distance caregiving, which is the experience of providing instrumental and/or emotional support to an ill loved one who lives a long distance from the caregiver, is a recent caregiving phenomenon. Although much is known about caregiving a family member with cancer, there has been almost no research describing the experience of caregiving from a distance and intervention studies are non-existent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of distance on caregiver reaction (benefit and burden) and to explore predictors of caregiver psychological well-being (depression, anxiety, and distress) in distance caregivers of parents with advanced cancer. A conceptual framework, adapted from Pearlin's Stress Process Model, guided the hypothesis that caregiver reaction would mediate the relationship between primary stressors (patient type and stage of cancer and patient overall well-being) and structural factors (distance, caregiver age, gender, race, education, employment, other caregiving responsibilities, and status as primary caregiver) and caregiver psychological well-being and that social support would moderate the relationship between caregiver reaction and psychological well-being. A mixed-methods approach, with a predictive correlational design and a qualitative analysis, was used with a convenience sample 40 local and 40 distance caregivers of patients with advanced lung, gastrointestinal, and gynecological cancer.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3383485; ProQuest document ID: 304863043. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Polly M. Mazenec, PhD, AOCN, ACNP-BC, FPCN, FAAN

Sigma Membership

Alpha Mu

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Descriptive/Correlational

Research Approach

Mixed/Multi Method Research

Keywords:

Depression, Distance Caregivers, Emotional Support, Mood Disturbance

Advisor

Barbara J. Daly

Second Advisor

Patricia Higgins

Third Advisor

Carol Musil

Fourth Advisor

Betty R. Ferrell

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

Case Western Reserve University

Degree Year

2009

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2024-05-14

Full Text of Presentation

wf_yes

Download

Share

COinS