The aim of this dissertation was to explore the antecedents and outcomes of caregiver burden within the context of brain metastases using the Comprehensive Health Seeking and Coping Paradigm as a fram..
The aim of this dissertation was to explore the antecedents and outcomes of caregiver burden within the context of brain metastases using the Comprehensive Health Seeking and Coping Paradigm as a framework to describe the highly interactive iii relationship among the variables. The first paper derived from this dissertation is a literature review that describes the challenges of caring for a patient with brain metastases and highlights the implications for healthcare professionals. The second paper presents the analysis of the relationships between caregiver burden and the affective disorders anxiety and depression. It describes the higher risk of screening positive for anxiety and depression for caregivers who report increased schedule burden. The third paper examines the impact of the patient's cognitive impairment on caregiver resilience and caregiver coping strategies. This paper reports the significant correlation found between the coping strategy acceptance and the two dimensions of the patient's cognitive/behavioral status, i.e., patient's memory problems and disruptive behavior.