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Emotion dysregulation and family functioning moderate family caregiving burden during the pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2023

Dahee Kim Open the ORCID record for Dahee Kim [Opens in a new window] ,
Beth S. Russell ,
Crystal L. Park  and
Michael Fendrich
Dahee Kim*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
Beth S. Russell
Affiliation:
Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
Crystal L. Park
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
Michael Fendrich
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
*
Corresponding author: Dahee Kim; Email: dahee.kim@uconn.edu
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Abstract

Objectives

Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, additional risk factors affecting family caregivers’ mental health have arisen. Therefore, personal stress coping strategies and family dynamics became important factors in reducing the impact of the pandemic on family caregivers’ mental health. The present research aimed to estimate the association between COVID-19 stressors and family caregiving burden. Moreover, moderating effects of emotion dysregulation and family functioning on this association were investigated.

Methods

This study analyzed data collected in April 2021 from 154 family caregivers (Mage = 38.79, SDage = 9.36, range = 22–64) recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The impact of COVID-19 stressors on family caregiving burden was tested, and moderating impacts of emotion dysregulation and family functioning were also investigated.

Results

Both COVID-19 stress exposure and stress appraisal were positively associated with family caregiving burden. Emotion dysregulation and problematic family functioning were also positively associated with family caregiving burden. A significant moderating effect of emotion dysregulation was found, such that family caregivers with higher emotion dysregulation were likely to feel more caregiving burden when they experienced more COVID-19 stressors.

Significance of results

The current research highlighted the role of emotion regulation in reducing the negative impact of COVID-19 stressors on family caregiving burden. The research also emphasizes the need for intervention programs to improve emotion regulation strategies to decrease family caregiving burden during the pandemic.

Keywords

Caregiving burdenemotion dysregulationfamily functioningstressCOVID-19
Type
Original Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , First View , pp. 1 - 9
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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