Psychosocial Support in Liver Transplantation: A Dyadic Study With Patients and Their Family Caregivers
Background and aims: Liver transplantation provides an opportunity of survival for patients with liver failure; however, this procedure is known to be psychologically and physically fatiguing for patients and their informal caregivers. The aim of this study was to investigate how perceived social su...
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doaj-0511d19b83b643f8a24336e91122ec222020-11-24T21:25:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-10-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.02304461481Psychosocial Support in Liver Transplantation: A Dyadic Study With Patients and Their Family CaregiversSabrina Cipolletta0Lorenza Entilli1Massimo Nucci2Alessandra Feltrin3Giacomo Germani4Umberto Cillo5Biancarosa Volpe6Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyDepartment of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyDepartment of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyPsychology Service, Padua University Hospital, Padua, ItalyMultivisceral Transplant Unit, Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, Padua University Hospital, Padua, ItalyHepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation Unit, Department of General Surgery and Organ Transplantation, Padua University Hospital, Padua, ItalyPsychology Service, Padua University Hospital, Padua, ItalyBackground and aims: Liver transplantation provides an opportunity of survival for patients with liver failure; however, this procedure is known to be psychologically and physically fatiguing for patients and their informal caregivers. The aim of this study was to investigate how perceived social support and the distribution of dependency were associated with the psychological wellbeing of patients waiting for liver transplantation and their caregivers, as a dyad.Methods: The present was a cross-sectional study. Ninety-five participants were recruited at a hospital in Northern Italy, during the psychological evaluation for inclusion in the transplantation list: 51 patients (19 with alcohol-related illness) and 44 family caregivers. Both patients and caregivers filled in a Symptom Checklist and Kelly’s Dependency Grids. Patients also compiled the Medical Outcome Study Social-Support Survey, and caregivers compiled the Family Strain Questionnaire Short-Form.Results: Caregivers reported important levels of strain and strongly related to a worsening of their own and patients’ symptoms. Patients with alcohol-related pathologies had a narrower social network, which corresponded to an increase in family strain. On the sample as a whole, regression analyses showed that perceived social support and dependency measures did not predict patients’ and caregivers’ symptoms. Nevertheless, cluster analysis identified a group of caregivers who distributed their dependency more and experienced lower levels of depression, anxiety, and strain.Conclusions: These results suggest the usefulness of a dyadic approach in the research, prevention, and care of liver diseases. A deeper comprehension of the functioning of dyads will help practitioners in the identification of situations at risk.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02304/fullcaregiverdependencydyadliver transplantationsocial support |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Sabrina Cipolletta Lorenza Entilli Massimo Nucci Alessandra Feltrin Giacomo Germani Umberto Cillo Biancarosa Volpe |
spellingShingle |
Sabrina Cipolletta Lorenza Entilli Massimo Nucci Alessandra Feltrin Giacomo Germani Umberto Cillo Biancarosa Volpe Psychosocial Support in Liver Transplantation: A Dyadic Study With Patients and Their Family Caregivers Frontiers in Psychology caregiver dependency dyad liver transplantation social support |
author_facet |
Sabrina Cipolletta Lorenza Entilli Massimo Nucci Alessandra Feltrin Giacomo Germani Umberto Cillo Biancarosa Volpe |
author_sort |
Sabrina Cipolletta |
title |
Psychosocial Support in Liver Transplantation: A Dyadic Study With Patients and Their Family Caregivers |
title_short |
Psychosocial Support in Liver Transplantation: A Dyadic Study With Patients and Their Family Caregivers |
title_full |
Psychosocial Support in Liver Transplantation: A Dyadic Study With Patients and Their Family Caregivers |
title_fullStr |
Psychosocial Support in Liver Transplantation: A Dyadic Study With Patients and Their Family Caregivers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Psychosocial Support in Liver Transplantation: A Dyadic Study With Patients and Their Family Caregivers |
title_sort |
psychosocial support in liver transplantation: a dyadic study with patients and their family caregivers |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2019-10-01 |
description |
Background and aims: Liver transplantation provides an opportunity of survival for patients with liver failure; however, this procedure is known to be psychologically and physically fatiguing for patients and their informal caregivers. The aim of this study was to investigate how perceived social support and the distribution of dependency were associated with the psychological wellbeing of patients waiting for liver transplantation and their caregivers, as a dyad.Methods: The present was a cross-sectional study. Ninety-five participants were recruited at a hospital in Northern Italy, during the psychological evaluation for inclusion in the transplantation list: 51 patients (19 with alcohol-related illness) and 44 family caregivers. Both patients and caregivers filled in a Symptom Checklist and Kelly’s Dependency Grids. Patients also compiled the Medical Outcome Study Social-Support Survey, and caregivers compiled the Family Strain Questionnaire Short-Form.Results: Caregivers reported important levels of strain and strongly related to a worsening of their own and patients’ symptoms. Patients with alcohol-related pathologies had a narrower social network, which corresponded to an increase in family strain. On the sample as a whole, regression analyses showed that perceived social support and dependency measures did not predict patients’ and caregivers’ symptoms. Nevertheless, cluster analysis identified a group of caregivers who distributed their dependency more and experienced lower levels of depression, anxiety, and strain.Conclusions: These results suggest the usefulness of a dyadic approach in the research, prevention, and care of liver diseases. A deeper comprehension of the functioning of dyads will help practitioners in the identification of situations at risk. |
topic |
caregiver dependency dyad liver transplantation social support |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02304/full |
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