Most dementia care is provided at home by family members. This caregiving places an additional burden on the family members, which can negatively impact their physical and psychological well-being. The caregivers' burden can also contribute to behavioral problems in the care-recipients. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating/moderating effects of positive thinking (PT) on the relationship between caregivers' burden (embarrassment/anger, patient's dependency, and self-criticism) and their care-recipients' behavioral problems (memory, depression, and disruption) in a sample of 100 dementia caregivers. Results indicated that caregivers' embarrassment, self-criticism, and perception of patient dependency predicts depression in care-recipients, and these relationships are moderated by PT. Results also indicated that as PT increases, the relationship between embarrassment and disruption goes down as well as does the relationship between self-criticism and depression. The study provided direction for the development of a PT training intervention to help caregivers to combat their burden.
Keywords: behavioral problems; burden; dementia caregivers; positive thinking.