Hope as a Coping Resource for Caregiver Resilience and Well-Being

Abstract

Caregiving burden and stress has been shown to have negative health consequences with higher rates of illness, disease, and use of prescription medication. Caregivers report higher levels of anxiety, depression, anger, and dysfunctional coping. Caregivers are also more likely to report isolation from social support networks and an increase in family-work conflict. Evidence suggests that care recipients are at an increased risk for lower levels of care, abuse, and hospitalization when the caregiver is suffering from the negative effects of burden and stress. Given the prevalence of unpaid caregiving in the U.S. and the potential negative consequences associated with burden and stress for both the caregiver and recipient, efforts are needed to facilitate resilience among caregivers by enhancing their capacity to positively cope with adversity and contribute to their potential to flourish. A growing body of research associated with the positive psychology movement points to the psychological strength of hope as an important coping resource that has particular relevance to caregiver resilience. This chapter introduces the positive psychology construct of hope within the context of Snyder's theoretical model and the empirical literature supporting its importance as a coping resource. Finally, we present an integration of hope as a resilience process within the context of caregiving. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)