Relationship management strategies for daughters in conflicted relationships with their ageing mothers

Emotion Regulation, Coping Strategies, and Hazardous Drinking Among Family Caregivers of People With Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias

PURPOSE

The current study investigated hazardous drinking and alcohol use disorders among 453 family caregivers of individuals living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD).

METHOD

We examined the prevalence of hazardous drinking and its relationship with emotion regulation and coping strategies (problem-solving, social support, and avoidance) using data from the first wave of a longitudinal study on daily ADRD caregiving experiences. A binary logistic regression model was performed to predict the relationship between potential risk factors and hazardous drinking.

RESULTS

Findings revealed that 18.1% of ADRD caregivers screened positive for hazardous drinking based on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption. Caregivers experiencing greater difficulties in emotion regulation and greater reliance on avoidance as a coping strategy were at higher risk of screening positive for hazardous drinking.

CONCLUSION

These findings stress the importance of targeted interventions to improve emotion regulation and reduce avoidance coping in ADRD caregivers, ultimately enhancing their well-being. [Research in Gerontological Nursing, 17(2), 81-90.].

Keeping the Connection Alive With Tender Care and Common Sense: A Phenomenological Study on Daughters' Experiences of Having a Mother in a Nursing Home

The relationship between mother and daughter is exceptional when it comes to closeness and its impact on their whole life. Thus, a mother's move to a nursing home is pivotal for both of them. The aim of this interpretative phenomenological study, using the Vancouver School of Doing Phenomenology, was to explore daughters' experience of having a mother in a nursing home, its impact on the maternal relationship, and the daughters' need for education and support. Data were collected by 21 semi-structured interviews with 12 women who had mothers living in a nursing home. Keeping the connection alive with tender care and common sense encapsulates the interrelation between the daughters' urge to hold on to the mother-daughter relationship and the rare consideration of education and support from health professionals. Responsibility and sense of duty paired with relief because the mother is in a safe place were accompanied by the daughters' need for confirmation that the mother is well taken care of.

Conceptualizing How Caregiving Relationships Connect to Quality of Family Caregiving within the Stress Process Model

Family caregivers provide the majority of care for older and disabled family members living with an illness or disability. Although most caregivers want to provide high-quality care, many report providing care that is potentially harmful. We apply the Stress Process Model to review the preponderance of literature implicating quality of the relationship between caregivers and care recipients as a factor contributing to quality of family caregiving. In drawing together literature on caregiving relationships and caregiving quality, this commentary identifies potentially modifiable intervention targets to develop programs to support high-quality caregiving to older adults living with a chronic illness or disability.

Intimate Partner Violence in Persons With Parkinson's Disease

Recent studies have reported that older adults with cognitive or physical disabilities are at risk to suffer intimate partner violence. This article investigates the intimate partner violence among caregivers and persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). We used qualitative methods to investigate whether the presence of violence was related to the type of couple relationship before the disease onset. We used a survey, in-depth interviews, and focus groups in 20 dyads of caregivers and patients. Twelve (60%) persons with PD and nine (45%) caregivers reported receiving violence. Considering their relationships previous to disease onset, we describe three typologies of violence in PD: (a) disease and history of violence, (b) disease as a buffer of violence, and (c) the burden of disease as an inductor of violence. Previous relationships and the couple's biographical trajectories influence the types of violence and its nature. This study is relevant as it considers time as a crucial factor in both the violence and suffering of PD and its caregiving.

When Older People Are Violent or Abusive Toward Their Family Caregiver: A Review of Mixed-Methods Research

What happens when family caregivers experience violence and abuse from the older person for whom they care? Although this issue has received little global attention, it is relevant to researchers, practitioners, and policy makers working across the intersecting fields of older age care and medicine, adult protection and safeguarding, and domestic and intimate partner violence. To date, these fields have generated diverse explanations of violence and abuse in older age illness and how best to respond to it. This article reports the findings of a systematic literature review of 18 quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies that investigated violent and abusive behavior by older people toward their family caregivers. The review identified three central themes in the literature: (1) There are inconsistent definitions and measurements used in research about harmful, violent, and abusive behavior toward family caregivers. (2) Violent and abusive behavior toward caregivers is a sensitive and hidden topic that poses practical and methodological challenges for researchers. (3) There is some evidence to suggest that people who were violent and abusive in their earlier life-or who had a poor relationship with their family member in the past-are more likely to continue to experience violence and abusive behavior in later life. There were two central ways in which violence and abuse were conceptualized and investigated: as a "symptom of illness" or as an "act of abuse" and we present a visual map of the relationship between these two conceptualizations drawn from our analysis of the literature. We conclude by discussing the implications of the findings and recommend future directions for practice, research, and policy to support affected families.

It's All About the Relationship: Cognitively Intact Mother-Daughter Care Dyads in Hospice at Home

Purpose of the Study

Adult daughters providing care to aging, ill mothers comprise the most prevalent caregiving dyad. Little is known, however, regarding relationship quality and its impact on care in these dyads, particularly in the context of cognitively intact patients at end of life in hospice. This interpretive descriptive work privileges voices of terminally ill mothers and care-partnering daughters in the home hospice context. Specific aims were to describe and interpret how mothers and daughters: (a) perceive relationship quality and (b) perceive how relationships have developed over time through health, chronic illness, and hospice.

Design and Methods

Semistructured interviews were used to explore interdependent perceptions of relationship quality in 10 terminally-ill mother-adult daughter care dyads. A novel method of qualitative dyadic analysis was developed to analyze dyads in close parallel at both individual/descriptive and dyadic/interpretive levels, staying true to qualitative rigor.

Results

A relationship quality spectrum emerged, from Close Friendship to Doing My Duty dyads. Women in Close Friendships revealed concordant narratives and emotionally satisfying relationships; women in neutral or troubled relationships revealed discordant relational stories. In these latter dyads, mothers reported more positive narratives; daughters spoke of relational problems.

Implications

This work suggests deeper exploration of mother-daughter dyads within the hospice context and interventions at both individual and dyadic levels to serve relational needs of the dying and their families. The qualitative dyadic approach also offers utility for relational investigations of any dyad.