The Role Of Employment Status, Work Disruption, Leisure, And Resources In The Mental Health Of Demenita Caregiving Daughters

THE ROLE OF EMPLOYMENT STATUS, WORK DISRUPTION,LEISURE, AND RESOURCES IN THEMENTAL HEALTH OF DEMENTIA CAREGIVING DAUGHTERSbyLISA J FICKERDecember 2010Advisor: Dr. Peter LichtenbergMajor: Psychology (Clinical)Degree: Doctor of PhilosophyEmployment has been consistently identified as a role strain amongdementia caregivers. This study sought to examine the patterns and context ofemployment and work disruption among dementia caregiving daughters andlearn the extent to which work disruption influences mental health throughhypothesized reductions in financial resources and leisure activities. This studywas a cross-sectional design that extracted data of 486 daughter caregivers froma dataset that gathered information from Caucasian, African American, andLatina dementia caregivers at six research sites across the nation.Results indicated that caregiving daughters who were employed reportedthe lowest number of depressive symptoms and chronic health conditions. Incontrast, the unemployed and homemakers were most vulnerable to mental andphysical health problems, despite being virtually the same age, having carerecipients with similar levels of ADL impairment, and similar levels ofengagement in leisure activities as the employed caregivers. Work disruption