The construction of the structural equation model of burden, benefit finding, and anxiety-depression of esophageal cancer caregivers based on Lazarus stress and coping theory.

BACKGROUND:A large number of studies have shown that the assignment of long-term care duties brings great pressure and negative emotions to caregivers of cancer patients, and also affects the quality of care. Lazarus and Folkman's stress and coping theory holds that the process of cognition and evaluation of stress is key to the stress response when a stressor acts on individuals. This study is to explore the mediating effect of benefit finding between caregiver burden and anxiety-depression of esophageal cancer caregivers, according to a model hypothesis constructed based on stress and coping theory. The design of this study involved correlation and theoretical testing using a structural equation model. METHODS:A total of 228 pairs of esophageal cancer patients from 2 tertiary hospitals and their family caregivers were recruited in this study from May 2020 to January 2021. A questionnaire survey was conducted using the general information questionnaire, the caregiver burden inventory (CBI), the benefit finding scale (BFS), and the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). RESULTS:A good fitting model [chi-square (χ2)/degrees of freedom (df) =2.212, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) =0.07, comparative fit index (CFI) =0.976, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) =0.964, goodness of fit (GFI) =0.954, normed fit index (NFI) =0.957] indicated the mediating effect of benefit finding between caregiver burden and anxiety-depression of esophageal cancer caregivers. A higher level of benefit finding had a negative effect on caregiver burden and anxiety-depression, which reduced the burden and psychological distress of caregivers. The theoretical hypothesis was validated. CONCLUSIONS:Clinical nurses should pay attention to the benefit finding level of caregivers. For caregivers with low-level of benefit finding, intervention measures should be taken to improve the psychological cognitive level of caregivers, which can ultimately improve the quality of life of patients.