Caring for frail elders with cerebrovascular disease and family caregivers' subjective well-being: the role of positive coping

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the associations between active coping strategies and subjective well-being among family caregivers of frail elders with cerebrovascular disease in Shanghai, China. METHOD: We conducted face-toface interviews with 823 frail elder – family caregiver dyads from six urban districts in Shanghai in 2013. We excluded the elders whose primary caregivers were not their family members and those who did not have cerebrovascular disease. Eventually, 256 elder-caregiver dyads were included in the analysis. Coping strategies were measured by a revised version of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Subjective well-being was measured by a Chinese version of Satisfaction with Life Scale, Centre on Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and a single item from the Subjective Happiness Scale. FINDINGS: We found that higher frequency of active coping was significantly associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher levels of life satisfaction and happiness among these family caregivers.