Do Perceived Social Support and Positive Religious Coping Moderate Any Relationship Between Post-Intensive Care Syndrome–Family Symptoms and Quality of Life in Informal Caregivers of Intensive Care Unit Survivors?

Family members and close friends often act as informal caregivers (CGs) for survivors of critical illness, assisting with activities of daily living, ongoing care needs, and adjustment to life after critical illness. These CGs simultaneously cope with their own mental, physical, and social sequelae, including significant changes (to roles and responsibilities) in everyday life. Qualitative researchers have examined this constellation of CG symptoms, which constitute post-intensive care syndrome–family (PICS-F), to understand the experiences, needs, and coping of CGs of intensive care unit (ICU) survivors. None have looked at the impact of religious coping and perceived social support on PICS-F and quality of life (QoL). This quantitative correlational descriptive cross-sectional study involved examining the moderating impact of perceived social support (PSS) and positive religious coping (PRC) on the relationship between PICS-F psychological symptoms (i.e., posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression) and QoL among informal CGs of ICU survivors. Within a convenience sample (N = 100), a significant negative correlation was observed between PICS-F symptoms and QoL; positive correlations were noted between PRC and PSS and between PSS and the mental component of QoL. This study did not indicate significant moderation by these two variables on the relationship between PICS-F symptoms and QoL. Efforts should continue to evaluate and foster CG PSS and the means to use PRC mechanisms. Demographic disparities between the sample and population limit generalizability of this study’s findings across cultures. Further research is needed to define, directionalize, and interpret the correlational relationships among the variables in this study.