A Causal Model of Psychological Distress of Thai Family Caregivers of People with Major Depressive Disorder

Abstract

              The purpose of this cross-sectional correlational research was to examine how burden, social support, sense of belonging, problem-focused coping, and emotion-focused coping influenced psychological distress in family caregivers of people with a major depressive disorder. The conceptual model was built on Lazarus and Folkman’s theory of stress and coping, and related literature. Multistage sampling was employed to recruit 204 family caregivers of people with a major depressive disorder. The caregivers were asked to complete 6 questionnaires including: the Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire, Social Support Questionnaire, Sense of Belonging Instrument, Ways of Coping Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire-12, and General Information Questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to examine a hypothesized model.

          The results revealed that the hypothesized model fitted the empirical data and 64% of the variance of psychological distress was explained. Burden had the strongest positive direct effect on psychological distress and an indirect effect on psychological distress through emotion-focused coping. Social support had an indirect effect on psychological distress through emotion-focused coping. Sense of belonging had a negative direct effect on psychological distress. Findings indicated that the Causal Model of Psychological Distress of Thai Family Caregivers of People with Major Depressive Disorder provides a guideline for understanding psychological distress of these family caregivers caring for people with a major depressive disorder. Mental health care providers, including nurses, should help to relieve burden, strengthen the sense of belonging, and promote appropriate coping strategies in order to decrease psychological distress of such family caregivers.