Relationships between Resilience and Well-Being in Family Caregivers to Holocaust Survivors
Relationships between Resilience and Well-Being in Family Caregivers to Holocaust Survivors

Summary/Abstract: The caregiver role can be challenging as family members address the oft en complex needs of aging relatives. Resilience, the process or trait related to addressing and rebounding from adversity, may play a role in determining how well family caregivers fare. In this study, the authors explored the relationships between resilience and well-being in a uniquely resilient group – family caregivers to Holocaust survivors. Surveys were completed by a convenience sample of family caregivers (N = 89) living in the United States. One-way between subjects ANOVA with Scheff é post-hoc tests were run to compare low-, moderate-, and high-resilience caregivers. Depression was significantly lower for each progressively higher resilience group. Physical well-being was signifi cantly lower in the low-resilience group. Caregiver burden was not signifi cantly diff erent between groups. Resilience may have a prophylactic role in preserving physical and emotional well-being in family caregivers; however, resilience and burden may have a more nuanced relationship. Burden may have been underreported due to (a) comparisons with the stress experienced by the Holocaust survivors and/or (b) a heightened sense of filial piety. Health care practitioners should be aware of the complex role that resilience can potentially play both in protecting well-being and in masking burden in family caregivers.

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