Husband's and Daughter's Role Strain During Breast Cancer Hospice Patient Caregiving and Bereavement Adjustment

• Main Author: Bernard, Lori Lynn
• Other Authors: Guarnaccia, Charles A.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Texas 2000
• Subjects: Breast > Cancer > Patients > Family relationships.; Caregivers > Psychology.; Caregivers > Family relationships.; Bereavement > Psychological aspects.; Hospice care.; bereavement; breast cancer; hospice
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2542/

Current literature regarding caregiver bereavement adjustment has advanced two competing models explaining adjustment in relation to caregiver interrole conflict: the Relief Model and Complicated Grief Model. This research has primarily focused on the experience of those providing care to dementia patients. This study tests these competing models of bereavement adjustment for husband and daughter caregivers of breast cancer hospice patients. For husbands, greater psychological strain and health strain were predictive of greater difficulty with bereavement adjustment, supporting the Complicated Grief Model of bereavement adjustment. For daughters, strain was not a significant predictor of bereavement adjustment, and thus did not support either bereavement adjustment model. While daughter caregivers experienced more role strain than husband caregivers during patient care, the degree of role strain was predictive of bereavement adjustment for husbands but not for daughters, suggesting that relationship type (husbands versus daughters) between caregiver and patient impacts which factors influence bereavement adjustment.