DEALING WITH DEMENTIA: HOW ALZHEIMER\u27S DISEASE CAREGIVER-SPOUSES/PARTNERS, PATIENTS, AND CAREGIVERS USE ONLINE SUPPORT GROUPS TO COPE

This dissertation examines how Alzheimer\u27s disease caregiver-spouses/partners, patients, and caregivers use online support groups to cope with the stress of dementia. Using Lazarus and Folkman\u27s transactional model of stress and coping as a theoretical framework, as well as a coding scheme, a content analysis of 568 posts to online support groups for caregiver-spouses/partners, patients, and caregivers was conducted. The differences between the independent variables poster status (i.e., caregiver-spouse/partner, patient, caregiver), poster gender, post length, group participation level, and emoticons and the dependent variables emotion- and problem-focused coping style, coping category, and coping strategies were explored. Analyses for all posts and at the poster group level revealed that posts from caregiver-spouses/partners and caregivers contained more emotion-focused coping than patient posts. Gender, post length, group participation level, and presence of emoticons revealed varied results