The Gerontologist, Vol 37, Issue 4 490-504, Copyright © 1997 by The Gerontological Society of America

ARTICLES

A cross-cultural validation of coping strategies and their associations with caregiving distress

WS Shaw, TL Patterson, SJ Semple, I Grant, ES Yu, M Zhang, YY He and WY Wu
San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, USA.

Coping strategies were compared among family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients in Shanghai, China (n = 110) and San Diego, California (n = 139). Four coping factors were reliably consistent in both samples, supporting their widespread relevance to life adversity; behavioral confronting, behavioral distancing/social support, cognitive confronting, and cognitive distancing. Shanghai and San Diego caregivers endorsed similar rates of coping, but Shanghai caregivers reported fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. Although coping strategies were similar, cultural ideals promoting family interdependence, veneration of elderly family members, and acceptance of traditional family roles may have reduced the psychological impacts of caregiving in the Shanghai sample.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. M. Connell, M. R. Janevic, and M. P. Gallant The Costs of Caring: Impact of Dementia on Family Caregivers J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol, December 1, 2001; 14(4): 179 - 187. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. R. Janevic and C. M Connell Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Differences in the Dementia Caregiving Experience: Recent Findings Gerontologist, June 1, 2001; 41(3): 334 - 347. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]