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Effects of Caregiver Status, Coping Styles, and Social Support on the Physical Health of Korean American Caregivers

Correspondence: Address correspondence to Jung Hyun Kim, PhD, Department of Rehabilitation and Welfare for the Aged, Yongin University, 470 Samga-dong, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea 449-714. E-mail: jungh_kim{at}hotmail.edu

Purpose: This study investigated direct and indirect effects of caregiver status on the physical health of Korean American caregivers in terms of caregiver coping styles and the quantity and the quality of informal social support. Design and Methods: Using a sample of 87 caregivers and 87 matched noncaregivers, we analyzed a path model, employing both subjective (self-reported general health) and objective (blood pressure and cortisol levels) health indicators. For the intervening variables the path model employed coping styles and two aspects of social support (the quantity of informal social support and the quality of informal social support).  Results: Our findings supported the association of caregiver status with poor health outcomes among Korean American caregivers. Of interest, the adverse effects of caregiver status on the physical health of caregivers were reported only with objective health markers (blood pressure and cortisol levels), not with subjective health indicators. The proposed indirect effects of caregiver status were supported only for cortisol levels, through the quality of informal social support. Implications: The demonstration of the physical health effects of caregiving in one of the nation's fastest growing ethnic groups, and the finding that these physiological effects occur without self-reported poor health, call attention to a potentially serious health problem in an understudied group providing family care to frail older family members.

Key Words: Blood pressure • Caregiving • Cortisol • Ethnicity • Self-reported general health