Citation

Wilcox S, Girasek D. Health Promot. Pract. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Society for Public Health Education, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1524839920902756

PMID

31984799

Abstract

Background. To create efficacious interventions for military family caregivers (MFCs), it is important to understand the characteristics and predictors of completers and dropouts of newly developed supportive interventions. Aim. The purpose of this study was to examine completion patterns in MFCs enrolled in an educational intervention feasibility study. Method. Baseline data are presented from MFC completers (n = 64) and dropouts (n = 60) of a national feasibility study for an innovative intervention. Measures include depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-2), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7), somatic symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-15), quality of life (World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief), relationship satisfaction (Relationship Assessment Scale), and military care recipient number of injuries. Analysis of variance was used to evaluate differences between completers and dropouts and logistic regression was used to identify predictors of intervention completion. Results. Results indicated that MFCs with greater anxiety, χ²(3) = 10.33, p =.02; depression, χ²(1) = 8.18, p =.004; somatic symptoms, F(1, 106) = 6.26, p =.01; care recipient number of injuries, F(1, 118) = 16.31, p <.001; lower general satisfaction with treatment, F(1, 96) = 4.34, p =.04; and lower satisfaction with accessibility and convenience with treatment, F(1, 89) = 4.18, p =.04, were significantly more likely to complete the intervention. After multivariate analysis, the sole predictor of intervention completion was the number of care recipients' injuries, χ²(6) = 14.89, N = 77, p <.05. Conclusions. Overall, findings indicate that MFCs who were more "at risk" were more likely to complete the intervention.

FINDINGS present patterns of intervention completion and provide insight on areas in need of further investigation on intervention development supporting the needs of MFCs.

Language: en

Keywords

caregivers; completers; dropouts; high-risk populations; intervention development; military; quality of life; well-being