RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: This study examined the mediating role of caregiver distress on family factors and caregiver life satisfaction among an understudied population of Parkinson's disease caregiver in Mexico. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used to examine psychosocial factors pertinent to caregiver of individuals with Parkinson's disease ( n = 95). Guided by a caregiver stress process model, relations among family factors (e.g., cohesion, flexibility, quality of functioning), gender, distress, and satisfaction with life among caregiver were examined. Mediation analyses were performed to test the role of caregiver distress on the associations between family factors, gender, and caregiver satisfaction with life. RESULTS: Mediation models demonstrated that caregiver distress fully mediated the relation between quality of family functioning and caregiver satisfaction with life and partially mediated the association between family flexibility and caregiver satisfaction with life. Caregiver gender did not emerge as a significant covariate, and null results were found in the model examining family cohesion as a predictor. CONCLUSION: These results underscore the critical role of caregiver distress and family factors on features of caregiver well-being, notably satisfaction with life. This evidence also offers cross cultural evidence for the caregiver stress process model, which has primarily been observed in Western samples. Accordingly, the need to build and disseminate empirically supported family-based treatments that emphasize caregiver distress is warranted.
Assuntos
Atitude Frente a Saúde , Cuidadores/psicologia , Efeitos Psicossociais da Doença , Família/psicologia , Doença de Parkinson/psicologia , Estresse Psicológico/psicologia , Adaptação Psicológica , Estudos Transversais , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , México , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Satisfação Pessoal , Fatores SexuaisRESUMO
Acculturating to the United States confers risk for cardiovascular disease, possibly through cardiovascular reactivity when communicating in a non-native language and interacting with individuals from a different ethnic background. Sixty-four women who immigrated to the United States from Mexico participated in the study. Cardiovascular responses were examined while participants communicated in both English and Spanish with a Caucasian or Mexican-American interaction partner presented via video-recording. Task-related emotional responses and perceptions of the interaction partner were also assessed. Speaking in English evoked greater increases in blood pressure and heart rate than communicating in Spanish, and larger increases in negative affect. English-speaking interaction partners were also viewed as less friendly and more dominant. Interaction partner ethnicity had no effect on cardiovascular reactivity. These findings suggest that health effects of acculturation for Mexican-Americans may involve the cardiovascular stress responses associated with communicating in a non-native language.