Caregiver Burden and Desire for Institutional Placement—The Roles of Positive Aspects of Caregiving and Religious Coping

Based on stress coping theory, this study investigated whether and how positive aspects of caregiving (PAC) and religiosity buffered the association between caregiving burden and desire to institutionalize (DTI). Secondary data (N = 637) were drawn from the baseline assessment of the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health II project. Descriptive analysis, bivariate correlation, and multiple linear regressions were conducted. The results indicated that higher levels of caregiver burden, daily care bother, and Revised Memory and Behavioral Problem Checklist bother were all significantly associated with higher level of DTI. Both PAC and religious coping were negatively associated with DTI; however, only PAC was significant. Only the interaction between daily care bother and religious coping was significant, which indicated that the harmful effect of daily care bother on DTI was significantly buffered among those who have religiosity. Study findings have important implications for policy makers and for providers who serve dementia family caregivers.