[Association between anxiety and coping strategies employed by primary caregivers of bedridden patients].

BACKGROUND

The primary caregiver faces a set of problems derived from the responsibility to provide care to his patient; this leads to the creation of complex psychological responses that act as a mechanism known as cognitive and behavioral coping. The objective was to determine if there was a correlation between the level of anxiety and the coping strategies used by primary caregivers of bedridden patients.

METHODS

Transversal, descriptive and correlational study. Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Coping Strategies Inventory were used. We used Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, a significance level of 0.05 and the statistical program SPSS, version 15.

RESULTS

We included 60 primary caregivers. The most common score for anxiety was moderate (28 %). The most frequently used strategy was problem solving (average = 14.7). By relating the level of anxiety and coping strategies a significant correlation was obtained with problem solving: r = 0.260; self-criticism, r = 0.425; wishful thinking, r = 0.412; and social withdrawal, r = 0.453.

CONCLUSIONS

The anxiety has an impact on the way caregivers cope; most of the population who have moderate to severe anxiety use desadaptive strategies focused on emotion.