Lijdensdruk en culturele dimensies bij mantelzorgers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of cultural background of family caregivers who care for a person with Alzheimer’s disease, with two components of suffering: grief and depressive affect. Cultural background is defined by two dimensions, individualism and collectivism. The expectation that caregivers with a more collectivistic cultural background would experience less suffering was based on the notion that this group would experience less stress by giving up their individual freedoms for the care of the chronic ill family member, as opposed to caregivers with a more individualistic cultural background. Results suggested that there was a negative correlation between collectivism and grief; higher collectivism scores where associated with a lower level of grief. No correlations where found regarding depressive affect and individualism. The lowest level of grief was measured in the final phase of Alzheimer’s disease with reference to the middle and early phases of the disease. Results are discussed in terms of understanding grief-like reactions when a loved one suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.