Abstract Aims This study examined the associations between spirituality, caregiver burden, disability, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) within stroke survivor–caregiver dyads using a dyadic structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The aim was to explore spirituality as a shared dyadic resource in post-stroke adaptation. Methods and Results A cross-sectional analysis was conducted with 217 stroke survivor–caregiver dyads recruited at discharge from rehabilitation hospitals. Spirituality, caregiver burden, disability, and HRQoL were assessed using validated instruments. Dyadic SEM estimated within-person and cross-dyadic associations. Missing data were minimal and not systematic. Survivors’ spirituality showed significant within-person associations with better physical (β = 0.304, p 0.001), cognitive (β = 0.449, p 0.001), emotional (β = 0.455, p 0.001), and social HRQoL (β = 0.343, p 0.001). Cross-dyadic associations were observed: higher survivor spirituality was associated with lower caregiver time-dependent (β = −0.275, p 0.001), developmental (β = −0.208, p 0.001), and physical burden (β = −0.183, p = 0.030). Caregivers’ spirituality showed a non-significant trend toward lower survivor cognitive disability (β = −0.117, p = 0.052). After adjustment for caregiver gender and survivors’ activities of daily living, caregiver spirituality was associated with lower developmental burden (β = −0.227, p = 0.023). Conclusion Spirituality was associated with multiple dimensions of post-stroke adaptation through distinct within- and cross-dyadic pathways. These findings support the relevance of dyadic SEM in stroke rehabilitation and highlight spirituality as a relational psychosocial resource within survivor–caregiver dyads.
Rago et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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