Resilience outstrips the negative effect of caregiver burden on quality of life among parents of children with type 1 diabetes: An Application of Johnson-Neyman Analysis

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To determine whether resilience buffers the deleterious consequences of caregiver burden on quality of life among parents of children with type 1 diabetes.

Background: The burden of caring for a child with type 1 diabetes can be a form of stress and damage parents' quality of life. Resilience is a crucial psychological variable that contributes to individual health in the context of extraordinary challenges. However, no studies in paediatric diabetes have focused on the effects of parent resilience on caregiving burden and quality of life.

Design: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with a convenience sample following the STROBE guidelines.

Methods: A total of 227 parents were invited to participate during the children's routine outpatient visit. Parents completed measures of resilience, caregiver burden and quality of life. The disease characteristics of children were extracted from the electronic medical records. We performed hierarchical multiple regression and Johnson-Neyman statistical analysis to probe the moderating effect of resilience.

Results: The parents reported poorer mental and physical health as compared with the general population. Caregiver burden was significantly negatively associated with parents' quality of life, while resilience demonstrated a positive correlation with life quality. Resilience served as a moderator between caregiver burden and mental health. When parents experienced a high caregiver burden, the benefit of high resilience for better mental health was apparent.

Conclusions: The present study underscores the protective role of resilience in reducing caregiving burden and improving parents' quality of life.

Relevance to clinical practice: Regular psychosocial assessment for parents of children with type 1 diabetes should be incorporated into clinical nursing practice. This study confirms that resilience is a promising intervention target for parents with heavy caregiver burden and unsatisfactory life quality.

Keywords: caregiver Burden; caregiving; children; diabetes mellitus type 1; quality of life; resilience.