The role of caregiver burden, marital stress, and mindfulness in predicting psychosocial adjustment to illness in people with coronary artery disease

Aim. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of caregiver burden, marital stress, and minfulness in predicting the level of psychosocial adjustment to illness in people with coronary artery disease.
Background. Cardiovascular disease and its consequences are not limited to the patient, but also have a great impact on the caregiver's life.
Method. This was a descriptive correlational study. The statistical population was all people with referred to the hospitals and medical centers of Urmia with diagnosis of coronary artery disease within the first half of the year. The sample consisted of 130 patients who were selected by convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the questionnaires caregiver burden, marital stress, Kentucky Mindfulness Skills and psychosocial adjustment to illness. Data were analyzed in SPSS by descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings. The results showed that caregiver burden and marital stress had a statistically significant negative correlation with psychosocial adjustment. Among mindfulness subscales, only “describe” subscale had a statistically significant positive correlation with psychosocial adjustment to illness (P=0.04). The stepwise regression analysis showed that the research model was able to explain 57% of psychosocial adjustment to illness. These findings suggest that caregiver burden and marital stress play an important role in psychosocial adjustment of patients with disease.
Conclusion. It can be concluded that caregiver burden and marital stress play an important role in the primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease, and intervention based on the results of this study is recommended.