Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35789451›Full record

ArticleQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2022

Conspiracy mentality among informal caregivers as a risk factor for caregiver burden, mental health, perceived loneliness and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings of a representative online study from Germany.

Larissa Zwar, Hans-Helmut König, André Hajek

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Article in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
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2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Larissa ZwarDepartment of Health Economics and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany. l.zwar@uke.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3913-9961
Hans-Helmut KönigDepartment of Health Economics and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
André HajekDepartment of Health Economics and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThis study aims to analyze if and how conspiracy mentality is associated with mental health, burden and perceived social isolation and loneliness of informal caregivers of older individuals with care needs.

methodsA quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted. Participants had to be at least 40 years of age and were drawn randomly from the German online panel forsa.omninet and questioned between the 4th and 19th of March 2021. A sample of 489 informal caregivers (relatives and non-relatives supporting individuals aged ≥ 60 years) was questioned. Conspiracy mentality, depressive symptoms, loneliness and social exclusion were measured with validated instruments (e.g., The Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire). Questions referred to the last three months prior to assessment. Multiple linear regression analyses, adjusted for sociodemographic, economic and health factors and indicators of the pandemic, were conducted.

resultsFindings indicate a significant positive association between conspiracy mentality and caregiver burden, loneliness, social exclusion, and depressive symptoms. No gender differences were found for any outcome.

conclusionsThe results indicate that conspiracy mentality could be a risk factor for mental health, perceived social isolation and loneliness, and contribute to increased caregiver burden among informal caregivers of older care recipients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, informal caregivers could benefit from actions focused on reducing conspiracy mentality during a health crisis, which could improve psychosocial health and wellbeing in this vulnerable group.

Indexed as

CaregiversCOVID-19AdultCaregiver BurdenCross-Sectional StudiesGermanyHumansLonelinessMental HealthPandemicsQuality of LifeRisk FactorsSocial IsolationBurdenConspiracy mentalityInformal careLonelinessMental healthSocial isolation

Identifiers

PMID35789451
PMCPMC9255449

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.