Examining Factors That Contribute to Poststroke Depression Within the Family Caregiver and Care Recipient Dyadic Experience

Purpose: Stroke survivors often experience biochemical changes in the brain. This decreases the ability to experience positive emotions. Stroke survivors contend with the loss of their former self and are often left with residual physical, cognitive, communicative, and psychological changes leading to a depressive state. With an increasing number of stroke survivors returning to the community, informal care provided by family members will continue to rise. Many of the challenges faced by stroke survivors with poststroke depression (PSD) and by family caregivers (FCGs) have a significant impact on the relationship itself. With the goal to obtain insight into potential contributing factors to poststroke depressive features in stroke survivors, this qualitative research study aimed to investigate the experiences, behaviors, and perceptions of participants with PSD living in the dyadic relationship between FCG and stroke survivors. Method: Six FCG–stroke survivor care recipient dyads served as the participants. All stroke survivor care recipients were diagnosed with or had signs and symptoms of depression poststroke. Semistructured interviews were conducted with stroke survivors within each dyadic relationship. All participants were within this dyadic relationship for at least 3 months. Results: Six themes emerged from the stroke survivors. The findings indicated that grieving of the former self, lack of self-efficacy, isolation, difficulty with communication, perceived stress of the FCG, and lack of depressive coping skills are factors that contribute to PSD. Conclusions: There were multiple factors experienced by stroke survivors within the dyad affecting their emotional state and leading to or exacerbating depressive symptoms. Additionally, stroke survivors have limited coping strategies for depressive symptoms. Stroke survivor informational counseling, training, and education may improve coping strategies and decrease symptoms of depression and therefore lead to strengthened rehabilitative outcomes. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.27156381