Introduction
The increased prevalence of dementia globally is associated with greater dependence on others, resulting in higher caregiver involvement. Dementia caregivers frequently report exhaustion, poor physical and mental health, and psychological distress.
Purpose
Despite caregivers' burdens, research also highlights positive aspects of caregiving through higher filial responsibility—adult children's responsibility to care for parents—on caregiver outcomes. This study aimed at how filial responsibility predicts coping styles in general population.
Method
A total of 246 participants (aged 20-66; M = 36.29, SD = 10.86) were recruited online via snowball sampling. A vignette was developed to depict a parent with moderate dementia and an adult child caregiver. An expert panel confirmed its validity, and a pilot test (n = 10 study participants) supported its realism, clarity, and usability. Hierarchical regression was conducted in IMB SPSS 24: Step 1 included socio-demographic variables and illness perception (α = .50), and Step 2 added filial responsibility (α = .92). Dependent variables were effective and ineffective coping (α = .80 & .75).
Results
Regression assumptions were met, except for a few multivariate outliers. However, Cook's distances were below 0.5 in all data set and sensitivity analyses showed negligible impact after removing the outliers. The only statistically significant effect was seen for effective coping. After controlling covariates, [F(14,231) = 5.29, p < .001, R2 = .243], addition of filial responsibility expectation added 3.4% [F(1,230) = 10.67, p = .001, ΔR² = .034], concluding higher filial responsibility predicts higher effective coping.
Conclusions
In collectivistic societies such as Türkiye, filial responsibility is expected to be high, particularly in caregiving contexts. However, research on this issue within the Turkish literature is scarce. This paper not only addresses this limitation but also serves as a pioneer for future investigations, further recommending the integration of filial responsibility into psychosocial support interventions for caregivers.