Psychological Distress, Quality of Life
Conditions
Keywords
Caregiving, Benefit Finding, Writing Intervention
Brief summary
A randomised controlled trial that will compare the effects of a brief benefit -finding writing intervention with an active control condition on quality of life and psychological health among informal caregivers.
Detailed description
A double-blind, randomized controlled parallel group study design with an equal 1:1 allocation ratio will be employed. This study will compare the effect of a brief benefit finding writing intervention with a control condition among caregivers. Caregivers currently caring for people with mental and physical disabilities will be randomised into a two-week, a) a benefit writing group or b) a control writing group. Caregivers will complete self-report measures relating to their care-recipient and themselves (e.g., illness type, and sociodemographics) and psychometric measures of benefit finding (primary outcome), psychological distress and quality of life(secondary outcomes). These will be assessed via online software at baseline, immediate post-test and at 3 month follow-up. Additionally, expectations and fidelity indices will be assessed and qualitative commentary on participation experiences gathered.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALBenefit-finding Writing Activity
Caregivers will be instructed to write about the benefits of caring, considering things such as improved social relationship, appreciation of life and loved ones, and the positive consequences with respect to these.
BEHAVIORALNeutral Writing Activity
The control group will be instructed to write number of things about the weather that day. Although the sentences can be as long or as short as they like, they will be encouraged to try and aim for about 3 or 4 sentences at least.
Sponsors
Carolan Research Institute
Care Alliance Ireland
University of Limerick
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Must be over the age of 18 * Must identify as caring for a family member, friend or relative * Must be living in Ireland
Exclusion criteria
* If the person cared for is living in institutional care
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Benefit Finding (Adapted version of the 17-item Benefit Finding Scale; Antoni et al., 2001) | Baseline, immediate post-intervention (two weeks), and 3 months | Used to assess change in benefit-finding levels over the course of the intervention and follow-up |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Caregiver Quality of Life (40 item Adult Carer Quality of Life Questionnaire; Joseph, Becker, Elwick, & Silburn, 2012) | Baseline, immediate post-intervention (two weeks), and 3 months | This measures quality of life in eight separate domains: support for caring; caring choice; caring stress; money matters; personal growth; sense of value; ability to care; and carer satisfaction. Used to assess change in quality of life levels over the course of the intervention and follow-up |
| Psychological Distress (Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale; Zigmond & Snaith, 1983) | Baseline, immediate post-intervention (two weeks), and 3 months | Used to assess change in psychological distress levels over the course of the intervention and follow-up, and as a moderator |
Outcome results
None listed