Health Behavior Among Men With Multiple Family Roles: The Moderating Effects of Perceived Partner Relationship Quality

Men in the United States are increasingly involved in their children's lives and currently represent 40% of informal caregivers to dependent relatives or friends aged 18 years and older. Yet much more is known about the health effects of varying family role occupancies for women relative to men. The present research sought to fill this empirical gap by first comparing the health behavior (sleep duration, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, fast food consumption) of men who only occupy partner roles and partnered men who also fill father, informal caregiver, or both father and informal caregiver (i.e., sandwiched) roles. The moderating effects of perceived partner relationship quality, conceptualized here as partner support and strain, on direct family role-health behavior linkages were also examined. A secondary analysis of survey data from 366 cohabiting and married men in the Work, Family and Health Study indicated that men's multiple family role occupancies were generally not associated with health behavior. With men continuing to take on more family responsibilities, as well as the serious health consequences of unhealthy behavior, the implications of these null effects are encouraging - additional family roles can be integrated into cohabiting and married men's role repertoires with minimal health behavior risks. Moderation analysis revealed, however, that men's perceived partner relationship quality constituted a significant factor in determining whether multiple family role occupancies had positive or negative consequences for sleep duration, alcohol consumption, and fast food consumption. These findings are discussed in terms of their empirical and practical implications for partnered men and their families.

Effects of a Telephone-Based Exercise Intervention for Dementia Caregiving Wives: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Despite the importance of self-care for dementia caregivers, few interventions have included a focus on health behaviors. The current study reports outcomes of a telephone-based exercise intervention designed for women caring for a spouse with dementia. Caregivers (N = 137) were randomized to intervention or control conditions. Participants with at or below-median exercise scores at baseline had a significantly greater increase in exercise at six-month follow-up compared to their control counterparts. At 6 months, participants had greater reductions in perceived stress relative to controls. Participants also reported significantly greater increases in exercise self-efficacy than caregivers in the control group at both follow-up points. . Results indicate that spouse caregivers are able to increase their physical activity and that a focus on exercise in multi-component interventions may be beneficial. Debate and discussion is needed to inform expectations for program impacts and their maintenance and to explore the interface between enhanced self-care and caregiving perceptions.

Antecedents of Physical Activity Among Family Caregivers

OBJECTIVES

We examined exercise behaviors among family caregivers and the degree to which aspects of the caregiving role influenced exercise behaviors. Understanding factors associated with caregiver physical activity provides practitioners the means to design and tailor interventions to be effective for caregivers.

METHODS

Caregivers (N=208) participating in a self-care intervention to promote caregiving skills were surveyed at baseline, prior to training. Measures included caregiver characteristics, care recipient characteristics, attitudes and intentions toward exercise and levels of physical activity.

RESULTS

Mental health variables and self-efficacy for exercise were significantly related to exercise levels in bivariate analyses. Regression analyses revealed that caregiver and care recipient characteristics accounted for a small percentage of the variance in exercise behavior.

DISCUSSION

Caregiver vitality and self-efficacy for exercise were key variables most significantly related to exercise behaviors. Findings suggest that mental health factors and attitudes about exercise may be more important predictors of exercise than caregiving factors.

Informal caregivers of persons with HIV/AIDS: a review and analysis

Due to advanced antiretroviral treatments, persons with HIV/AIDS (PWH/As) live longer and experience various physical and cognitive impairments during the course of their disease. Often, informal caregivers assist PWH/As to manage these impairments and experience negative physical and psychosocial consequences from their role. This article reviews and analyzes published empirical studies that have examined physical and psychosocial outcomes in informal caregivers of PWH/As. Gaps and limitations of current research are discussed. Recommendations for future research and practice implications are also proposed.

The costs of caring: impact of dementia on family caregivers

With the aging of the population, an increasing number of older adults are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. Most people with a dementing illness will be cared for at home by a family member, who may experience a variety of physical, emotional, financial, and social burdens associated with the caregiving role. The purpose of this article is to (a) examine the physical and psychological effects of providing care to a family member with a dementing illness, (b) describe the factors that help determine the nature and magnitude of these effects, and (c) discuss several approaches to caregiver intervention designed to reduce the negative impact of this challenging role. Sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., gender, relationship to the patient, culture, race, ethnicity), caregiver resources (e.g., coping, social support, availability of a companion animal), and personal characteristics (e.g., personality, health behaviors) shape the dementia caregiving experience and have implications for interventions designed to prevent or lessen the stress and burden that often accompany the role.