Motivating adult children to provide support to a family caregiver

Abstract

This study compared altruistically and egoistically framed messages for encouraging adult children to support a parent providing care for an elderly relative. Undergraduate students imagined their mother filling a caregiving role while reading a message about family caregiving and the physical and psychological stresses it involves. The message encouraged participants to support the caregiver either for altruistic (other-oriented) or egoistic (self-oriented) reasons. Thereafter, participants completed self-assessment surveys of attachment style and willingness to provide support. Securely attached (less self-oriented) participants were not differentially influenced by the two messages. However, insecurely attached (more self-oriented) participants were more willing to help if they received the egoistic message than if they received the altruistic message. Thus, knowledge of a family member's attachment style can be useful for selecting an appropriate method for encouraging caregiver support. Whereas the type of message used does not matter for securely attached individuals, an egoistically framed message may be more influential than an altruistically framed message among insecurely attached individuals. It is important that clinicians work with families to establish appropriate levels of individual commitment to caregiving responsibilities or supportive behaviours such that involvement is beneficial to the health of the caregiver, the care recipient and supporters.

Keywords: caregiving; family; social support; stress.