The Relationship Between Family Caregiver Coping Self‐Efficacy and Burden in the Intensive Care Unit: The Mediating Role of Resourcefulness

BACKGROUND: Family caregivers often face significant challenges in coping with the critical phases of their loved one's illness. These experiences can impose substantial burdens on their daily lives. AIM: This study explores the mediating role of resourcefulness in the relationship between coping self-efficacy and family caregivers' burden. STUDY DESIGN: A descriptive correlational research design is used to examine the relationship between the study variables and how demographic characteristics influence them. RESULTS: The study included 370 family caregivers, with a response rate of 61.7%. Approximately 41.6% of family caregivers were aged 30-39 years, and more than half were male. Total family caregiver burden showed moderate negative correlations with total coping self-efficacy (r = -0.683, p < 0.001) and total resourcefulness (r = -0.799, p < 0.001). Despite a strong negative correlation between family caregiver burden and personal resourcefulness (r = -0.937, p < 0.001), a weak negative correlation with the social resourcefulness subscale (r = -0.263, p < 0.001) was observed. Moreover, the path analysis model highlights the substantial effects of both personal resourcefulness (-0.380, CR = -36.022, p < 0.001) and social resourcefulness (-0.150, CR = -12.258, p < 0.001) on reducing caregiver burden, indicating that resourcefulness is a negative predictor of caregiver burden. CONCLUSIONS: Personal resourcefulness significantly mediates the adverse effect of caregiver burden on coping self-efficacy, underscoring the potential of nursing interventions to support caregivers and improve ICU outcomes. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nursing interventions incorporate strategies such as family-centred care, targeted education, coping-skills training and collaborative goal setting to foster family reliance on personal resourcefulness, which plays a fundamental role in managing their burdens and surpasses the impact of social support alone.