Psychology

The study evaluates emotional distress path models among three categories of caregivers for elderly patients suffering from dementia. These groups include Koreans living in Korea, Korean-Americans and White- Americans residing in the United States. The findings confirm a common core model that was identified in all the three groups that the disruptive behavior of patients burdens caregivers consequently resulting to depression and anxiety among the caregivers. The study found that instrumental support was a crucial factor for Korean caregivers while emotional support was crucial for Korean-Americans. It was also found that only Korean-Americans considered all the three problems associated with patients patients memory problems, their disruptive behavior ad depression to be burdensome. The conclusion is that stress and coping processes in caregivers with different cultural backgrounds entail a common core which is however characterized by differences in the effects of social support and the patients problems. Management of disruptive behavior of patients as well as facilitation of subjective assessment of burden by caregivers are important factors that should be considered in understanding causes of stress and developing ways of addressing it in caregivers for patients with dementia across various ethnicity groups.

This paper seeks to analyze how true, based on personal experience these findings are.
The fact that the researchers used sizeable samples and carried out a comparative study implies that the findings hence the drawn conclusions are quite reliable. I personally agree with some of the findings and conclusions of the study. I agree that it is important for caregivers to evaluate subjective burdens as this will enable them to identify those factors that cause them stress and anxiety hence make it easier stress management as interventions can focus on ways of addressing the causes. This is consistent with stress management as the first step in dealing with stress is identifying its causes and managing them as some of them can not be avoided as it is in this case.

I do not however completely agree with the conclusion that management of patients disruptive behavior is important in managing stress among caregivers for patients with dementia. It is not possible to control some things such as the disruptive behavior of patients with dementia, this is because these patients have cognitive disorders and may have no much control over how they behave. The best solution will be to train the caregivers on how to deal with this issue so that they are not burdened with it.

It is however true that while causes of stress are common across various cultures, their effects differ among cultures. This is because culture affects almost every aspect of our lives including how we think and approach issues. People have different ways of coping with burdens which is greatly influenced by their culture. What stresses one person might not necessarily stress another one. Ways of addressing stress should therefore not be generalized but be specific to each cultural group.