Purpose: The study examined whether a commonly reported coping method, private prayer, functioned as a mediator in the relationship between burden and resiliency among Alzheimer's (AD) caregivers.

Method: The study was a cross-sectional analysis of self-reported data from caregivers. With assistance from program directors of Alzheimer's Association chapters in the Southeast, questionnaires were submitted to participants in caregiver support groups (N=304). Response rate was 70%. The survey instrument obtained data relating to demographics, caregiving burden, prayer frequency, prayer coping, and resiliency. The conceptual framework, incorporating a generic mediation model with the premise of the resiliency model of stress, adaptation, and adjustment (RMSAA), posited that the negative effect of caregiving burden on resiliency is mediated via the inclusion of the prayer coping method. Research questions were: (1) To what extent to AD caregivers utilize private prayer as a means of coping? (2) What is the degree of caregiving burden? (3) What is the perceived level of resiliency? (4) Does private prayer mediate burden on resiliency? Pearson Product Moment correlations were calculated for conceptual variables. Multiple regression analysis evaluated the combined influence of demographics on the resiliency outcome. A series of linear regression equations were estimated to test the mediation model.

Results: The average participant in the sample was a 63-year-old White female caregiver, who was married to the care recipient. The influence of demographic variables accounted for less than 1% of the variance in resiliency scores. Over three-fourths of the sample prayed on a daily basis, and caregivers averaged a great extent of coping through private prayer. The sample reported a mild-to-moderate degree of burden, with higher burden correlating to a greater extent of prayer coping. Caregivers reported a moderate-to-high level of resiliency. Higher burden related to lower resiliency. Further, as prayer coping increased, so did perceived resiliency. Testing the mediation model, the main finding from the regression series showed that the unique effect of burden on resiliency (b = -0.53, p < .01) decreased with the inclusion of prayer (b = -0.41, p < .01). Correspondingly, burden and prayer accounted for slightly less of the variance in resiliency (23%) compared to the unique burden effect (27%).

Implications: Based on demographic findings, social workers should note that age of caregivers may be on the rise, a factor that attributes to a number of age-related issues, including a decline in the caregiver's physical health, cognitive functioning, and lack of family support. Fulfillment of conditions in the mediation model testing, as well as prayer's positive association with resiliency, provide support for social workers to consider the caregiver's use of private prayer as having a positive effect on resiliency and a mediating influence of burden on resiliency. Any resiliency heightening process, such as prayer, may enable caregivers to develop a new self-image in which they see themselves as capable individuals with the resources to lessen the impact of caregiving burden. Findings from the current study also reinforce the relevance of addressing spiritually sensitive practice in social work curricula.