Abstract

The stress and burden experienced by the family caregiver during the caregiving experience has been widely researched and established among the literature. Limited research exists on the impact of cultural values, religiosity and family caregiving on the caregiver's positive appraisal of caring for a dependent elderly family member. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of cultural values and religiosity on the positive appraisal of caregiving among African American, Hispanic and Caucasian caregivers for dependent elderly family members. A predictive correlational study design was employed to examine the relationship amongst variables for 69 African-American, Hispanic and Caucasian family caregivers that reside in southeastern Louisiana.

Two theoretical frameworks served as the paradigm for this study, providing direction in concepts selected, formulation of six hypotheses, and the study design. The first is Roy Adaptation Model (Roy & Andrews, 1999), describing individuals as holistic adaptive systems that are capable of responding to internal and external environmental stimuli. The second is Lazarus (1991) Structural Model of Appraisal, which explains how the interpretation of a situation determines the person's appraisal of the situation.

Study participants completed a demographic tool and four instruments the: (1) Katz Index, (2) Obligation Scale, (3) Duke University Religion Index, and (4) Positive Appraisal of Care Scale. Pearson's r, ANOVA and multiple regression analyses were used to test hypotheses in determining relationships, differences and predictions among African American, Hispanic and Caucasian family caregivers.

An overall significant moderate correlation was found between cultural values and positive caregiver appraisal as measured by the Obligation Scale and Positive Appraisal of Care Scale (p < .001). A significant correlation did not exist between the religiosity score and positive caregiver appraisal among the family caregivers. Overall, there was a not a significant difference in cultural values, religiosity, and positive appraisal of caregiving for African American, Hispanic and Caucasian family caregivers as a whole. However, analysis revealed cultural values and religiosity was a significant factor in predicting the positive appraisal of caregiving for African Americans (p = .002). Findings from this study indicate that more research is needed in order to plan and organize culturally sensitive interventions (inclusive of religious beliefs) to assist not only the elderly family member, but the family caregiver also.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3504931; ProQuest document ID: 1011002723. The author still retains copyright.

Fayron R. Epps

Author Details

Fayron R. Epps, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN

Sigma Membership

Epsilon Alpha

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Descriptive/Correlational

Research Approach

Quantitative Research

Keywords:

Cultural Values, Family Caregivers, Filial Obligation, Positive Appraisal of Caring

Advisors

Hutchinson, Sharon||Hull, Edna

Advisor

Sharon Hutchinson

Second Advisor

Edna Hull

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

Southern University and A&M College

Degree Year

2012

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

2023-01-30

Full Text of Presentation

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