| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立暨南國際大學 === 社會政策與社會工作學系 === 104 === The purpose of this study is to investigate care appraisals and coping strategies among family caregivers of patients with mental disorders and analyze the relationship between care appraisals and coping behaviors and influential factors. First, face-to-face surveys were conducted on 100 respondents selected through purposive sampling, who were family caregivers of patients with mental disorders receiving services from community rehabilitation centers for mental disorders. To enrich data for analysis, qualitative interviews were also conducted with three of the respondents.
Findings of this study reveal that factors that affect care appraisals are age, years of caregiving and kinship. Older caregivers who give care to their parents for more years tend to have higher care appraisals. Further stepwise regression analysis finds that kinship (β=.356, p=.001) has the most significant influence on care appraisals among caregivers. Factors that affect direct coping are education, kinship, seeking folk remedies or not, and care appraisal. Caregivers who have education higher than postgraduate and lower than elementary school and give care to their parents tend to have higher care appraisals and adopt direct coping. Further stepwise regression analysis finds that kinship (β=.317, p=.001) has the most significant influence on direct coping. Factors that affect suppression coping are hours of caregiving per day and care appraisal. Caregivers who give care for more hours per day tend to have lower care appraisals and adopt suppression coping. Further stepwise regression analysis finds that care appraisal (β=-.321，p=.002) has the most significant influence on suppression coping. In response to the particularity of caregiving for patients with mental disorders, analysis was also done on the relationship between stigmas and coping behaviors. It is found that caregivers experiencing more social stigmas tend to use suppression coping while those with less social stigmas tend to use direct coping. Finally, mediation testing finds that care appraisal has a mediator effect on the relationship between kinship and direct coping.
This study offers the following suggestions. (1) Practical aspect: By finding out connotations of care appraisals from multiple angles, it is possible to have a more thorough understanding of the feelings that family caregivers of patients with mental disorders have. This gives these caregivers the opportunity to learn to cope in different ways and collaborate with mental healthcare on facilitating the recovery of patients with mental disorders. (2) Policy aspect: It is necessary to first unstigmatize patients with mental disorders by enhancing knowledge of mental disorders among caregivers and the general public through education and communication to eventually put the concept of community care into practice. (3) Academic aspect: It is suggested to conduct research and analysis on different aspects of mental disorders (types and phases of illness) and investigate factors that affect the recovery of patients with mental disorders.
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