Caregiver Religiosity, Spirituality, and Positive Emotion as Predictors of Psychological Well-being in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that results in degeneration of motor neurons of the cerebral cortex, the brainstem, and the spinal cord. Also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS has no conclusive etiology and no known cure. The disease is ultimately fatal within approximately 3 to 5 years and robs individuals of all physical functions while leaving their intellectual capacity and personalities intact. Therefore, patients’ quality of life (QOL) becomes increasingly important in their lives and in the lives of their caregivers. Patients with ALS and their caregivers face a number of psychological, psychosocial, and existential stressors. When caregivers demonstrate signs of depression and anxiety, functional impairment is likely transferred onto the ALS patient. Clearly, caregivers benefit from effective and adaptive coping strategies. Some researchers suggest that religiosity and spirituality may play a sustaining and buffering role when patients and caregivers face the stress of a terminal illness. Other researchers suggest that the cultivation of positive emotion can help psychological well-being over time. This was a cross-sectional study with data generated by ALS caregivers and patients using the following measures: Idler Index of Religiosity, Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality, ALS Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire—Revised, Life Orientation Test—Revised, and Adult State Hope Scale. The following hypotheses were tested: (a) Patient negative emotion would be inversely correlated with patient religiosity and patient spirituality; (b) Caregiver hope would be directly related to patient religiosity and patient spirituality; (c) Caregiver optimism would be directly related to patient religiosity and patient spirituality; (d) Patient negative emotion would be predicted by caregiver hope, optimism, and religiosity