부산대학교 도서관

Purpose We examined the effect of informal cancer caregiver stress and negative attribution style (NAS) on depressive symptoms and salivary cortisol. Method The sample came from a hospital bone marrow unit and caregiver support organizations and included 60 informal cancer caregivers (51.7% partners) of individuals with cancer (provided care for a median of 27.5 h per week for 12 months) and 46 non-caregiver participants. In this cross-sectional study, participants completed questionnaires assessing NAS and depressive symptoms and provided saliva samples to measure cortisol. Results Linear regressions demonstrated that cancer caregiver stress (p = 0.001) and the cancer caregiver stress by NAS interaction (p = 0.017), but not NAS alone (p = 0.152), predicted depressive symptoms. Caregivers independent of their NAS and non-caregivers high in NAS reported high depression while non-caregivers low in NAS reported low depression. Neither cancer caregiver stress (p = 0.920) nor NAS alone (p = 0.114), but their interaction, predicted cortisol (p = 0.036). Higher NAS was associated with a higher cortisol in both groups while non-caregivers had higher cortisol than caregivers. Conclusions If the findings can be replicated, consideration of NAS in existing interventions to support informal cancer caregivers in managing chronic stress appears warranted.
Author(s): Patrick Pössel [sup.1], Amanda M. Mitchell [sup.1], Brooks Harbison [sup.1], G. Rafael Fernandez-Botran [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.266623.5, 0000 0001 2113 1622, Department of Counseling and Human Development, University [...]