Commentary on "Influence of Positive and Negative Dimensions of Dementia Caregiving on Caregiver Well-Being and Satisfaction with Life: Findings from the Ideal Study"

Evaluating the Positive Experience of Caregiving: A Systematic Review of the Positive Aspects of Caregiving Scale

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

As attention to positive caregiving experience increases, there is growing evidence concerning how the identification of the positive aspects of caregiving can be beneficial in supporting caregivers. The purpose of the current study is to review the literature where the Positive Aspects of Caregiving Scale (PACS) was used, identify the ways studies have used the PACS, and summarize the relationship between PACS and the contextual factors as well as outcomes of caregiving.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

A systematic literature review was conducted. Electronic databases were searched, and empirical research studies written in English that were published in a peer-reviewed journal after 2004 were identified. After a careful review of the 194 abstracts yielded from the databases and the reference lists of the associated articles, 52 eligible studies were identified, and relevant findings were extracted.

RESULTS

Some commonality in terms of how studies have used the PACS emerged. The literature reviewed was further grouped into three categories depending on whether the study tested the PACS as a valid and reliable measurement, examined the PACS as outcomes of caregiving, or as a predictor of certain outcomes.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

This review suggests that PACS is utilized for multiple purposes and yields considerable evidence supporting the importance of understanding the positive experience of caregiving. However, there is limited adaptation of the PACS in a large survey, and studies were heavily focused in the U.S. with little evidence from other countries. Further studies to address these limitations will be needed.

Appraisals of Self in the Caregiver Role as Made by Married Custodial Grandparents

OBJECTIVE

We examined how married custodial grandparents from the same household appraise the impact of caring for a grandchild on their sense of self, and how these appraisals are related to their psychological well-being.

BACKGROUND

This study is important because there is scant information on how custodial grandmothers and grandfathers both experience their caregiver role, even though 70% of these grandparents are married.

METHOD

Four competing measurement and structural models from the combined perspectives of the stress process model and the two-factor model of caregivers' psychological well-being were tested with 193 married grandmothers and grandfathers.

RESULTS

The best fitting model was one in which two positive (personal gain and satisfaction) and two negative (loss of self and role captivity) appraisals emerged as distinct first-order constructs. Both negative appraisals correlated highest with negative affect, and both positive appraisals correlated highest with positive affect. The measurement and structural components of this model were largely invariant by grandparent gender. Mean comparisons showed that grandmothers reported significantly higher negative appraisals than grandfathers, with the latter reporting significantly greater perceived gain in the caregiving role. Bivariate correlations between grandmothers' and grandfathers' appraisals were nonsignificant for perceived gain and loss of self and of only moderate magnitude for caregiver satisfaction and role captivity.

CONCLUSIONS

Given that appraisals are a core component of coping with stressors, our findings have important practice implications and point to meaningful directions for future research regarding custodial grandparent families.