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The Impact of Social Embarrassment on Caregiving Distress in a Multicultural Sample of Caregivers

California State University, San Bernardino, jmontoro{at}csusb.edu

Karl Kosloski

University of Nebraska at Omaha

Kyle Kercher

University of Nebraska at Omaha

Rhonda J. V. Montgomery

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

The purpose of this study was to gauge the impact of social embarrassment on caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. Two hypotheses were tested: First, social embarrassment adds a unique component of distress to caregivers of Alzheimer's patients, controlling for other factors known to cause depression; second, the negativity of the embarrassment varies according to the caregiver's race/ethnicity. Using data from the Alzheimer's Disease Demonstration Grants to States program ( N = 1,183), the caregiver's perceived depression was regressed on culturally situated variables and a set of covariates that included characteristics of both caregiver and care receiver. Results indicate that social embarrassment exerts a substantial effect on caregiver depression, but the effect does not vary meaningfully across cultural groups. In addition to social embarrassment, the health of the caregiver, the certainty of the Alzheimer's diagnosis, and the caregiver's perceived duty to care all uniquely contribute to the caregiver's level of depression.

Key Words: embarrassment • depression • caregiving • ethnicity • Alzheimer's disease

This version was published on April 1, 2009

Journal of Applied Gerontology, Vol. 28, No. 2, 195-217 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0733464808323449


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