Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented stressors for caregivers due to social distancing requirements that simultaneously increased their responsibilities and reduced opportunities for social connection and support. This concurrent embedded mixed-methods study examined differences between caregivers and non-caregivers regarding the effects of social connectedness on perceived stress and explored challenges caregivers experienced related to social connectedness and perceived stress.

Method

A national online survey containing forced-choice and free-response questions was administered between April and June 2020. The survey was distributed via social media advertisements and a crowdsourcing platform to eligible adult residents in the United States (US) fluent in either English or Spanish. Multivariable regression and thematic analysis were used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data. Mixed-methods integration occurred during the data analysis, interpretation, and reporting phases.

Results

The study sample comprised 1540 US adults (1275 non-caregivers, 265 caregivers; 65% women; 36% racial/ethnic minorities). Relative to non-caregivers, caregivers had lower levels of social connectedness and higher levels of perceived stress. Social connectedness was also inversely related to perceived stress for non-caregivers (p < 0.001) and slightly but not significantly positively related to perceived stress for caregivers. Qualitative findings showed caregivers experienced a variety of stressors including fear of COVID-19 exposure to their care recipients, disruption to usual care routines, and difficulty accessing healthcare services that may have contributed to decrements in social connectedness and higher levels of perceived stress.

Conclusion

Findings suggest social connectedness may be beneficial for reducing perceived stress, but its impact can vary depending on individual circumstances. Overall, findings support the idea that caregivers are a particularly vulnerable sub-group of the population and may benefit from more targeted support and interventions.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 大流行期间护理人员的社会联系和感知压力：一项混合方法研究

背景

由于社交距离要求，COVID-19 大流行给护理人员带来了前所未有的压力，同时增加了护理人员的责任，同时减少了社交联系和支持的机会。这项并行嵌入式混合方法研究检查了护理人员和非护理人员之间关于社会联系对感知压力的影响的差异，并探讨了护理人员经历的与社会联系和感知压力相关的挑战。

方法

2020 年 4 月至 6 月期间进行了一项包含强制选择和自由回答问题的全国在线调查。该调查通过社交媒体广告和众包平台分发给美国（美国）符合条件且精通英语或西班牙语的成年居民。使用多变量回归和主题分析来分析定量和定性数据。混合方法集成发生在数据分析、解释和报告阶段。

结果

研究样本包括 1540 名美国成年人（1275 名非看护者，265 名看护者；65% 为女性；36% 为少数族裔）。相对于非看护者，看护者的社会联系水平较低，感知压力水平较高。社会联系也与非照顾者的感知压力呈负相关（p  <0.001），与照顾者的感知压力略有但不显着正相关。定性研究结果显示，护理人员经历了各种压力源，包括担心护理对象接触到 COVID-19、常规护理常规受到干扰以及难以获得医疗服务，这些可能导致社会联系减少和感知压力增加。

结论

研究结果表明，社交联系可能有利于减轻感知压力，但其影响可能因个人情况而异。总体而言，研究结果支持这样一种观点，即护理人员是人口中特别脆弱的一个群体，可能会受益于更有针对性的支持和干预措施。