The relationship between perceived stress and family quality of life: moderating impact of resilience among family caregivers of individuals with Parkinson's disease

Objective To identify key demographic covariates affecting family quality of life, examine associations among neuropsychiatric symptoms, perceived stress, resilience, and quality of life, and assess the moderating role of resilience in the relationship between perceived stress and family quality of life in family caregivers of individuals with Parkinson's disease. Design Survey. Setting Online survey platform, Prolific. Participants A total of 242 family caregivers of patients with PD, with the majority being children or grandchildren. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure(s) The Family Quality of Life Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Brief Resilience Scale, and Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire. Results Family quality of life was positively correlated with older age, male sex, married status, higher income, and additional family caregiving assistance. After controlling for demographic covariates, direct associations were found between neuropsychiatric symptoms and perceived stress ( β = 0.20), between perceived stress and family quality of life ( β = −0.39), and between resilience and family quality of life ( β = 0.25). Resilience moderated the relationship between perceived stress and family quality of life ( β = 0.13). Specifically, caregivers with low resilience showed the greatest declines in family quality of life as perceived stress increased, followed by those with mid-level of resilience. The slope for those with high resilience was not significant. Conclusions Enhancing caregivers' family quality of life requires multifaceted approaches targeting patient and caregiver needs. Patients' neuropsychiatric symptoms should be addressed through individualized medical or behavioral strategies. Caregivers may benefit from resilience-enhancing interventions to manage stress and improve family quality of life.