• Seon-Young Kim, Jae-Min Kim, Sung-Wan Kim, Hee-Ju Kang, Il-Seon Shin, Hyun-Jeong Shim, Sang-Hee Cho, Ik-Joo Chung, and Jin-Sang Yoon.
• Mental Health Clinic, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, Hwasun 519-763, Korea; Departments of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, and Depression Clinical Research Center, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju 501-757, Korea.
• Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2014 Mar 1;36(2):165-71.

ObjectiveThis study investigated the determinants of a hopeful attitude among family caregivers involved with palliative care.MethodWe investigated a broad range of factors for the patient-family dyad in a palliative care setting using a cross-sectional design. The patients' sociodemographic, clinical and psychological factors were evaluated, as well as caregiver-related sociodemographic and psychological factors, including depressive symptoms, burden, coping style and religiosity. Caregivers were divided into two groups based on a hopeful or nonhopeful attitude and assessed using the abbreviated version of the seven-item Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS-7).ResultsOf 304 analyzed dyads, 210 (69.1%) caregivers showed a hopeful attitude, with a BHS-7 score of 0. The adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that caregivers' hopeful attitude was determined by only their psychological status: less depressive symptoms [odds ratio (OR), 0.86; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.83-0.90], active coping strategy (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.07-1.18) and lower burden (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.88-0.99). In a subpopulation analysis (n=200), higher religiosity was a significantly associated factor.ConclusionHealthcare providers need to pay attention to the psychological vulnerability of caregivers to encourage a hopeful attitude. Additional studies of longitudinal design for hopeful attitude throughout the trajectory of palliative care are necessary.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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