Sociocultural Determinants of Negative Emotions Among Dementia Caregivers in the United States and in Korea: A Content Analysis of Online Support Groups

Despite the growing interest in Alzheimer's disease, issues of ethnicity and culture associated with dementia are still under-studied. In this study, particular attention was given to Korean caregivers who seem to suffer the most in terms of family burdens and emotional distress. Content analysis was performed on 798 messages posted to online support groups for dementia caregivers. The results indicated that Korean caregivers expressed more family burden (“impact on finance” and “sense of entrapment”) than U.S. caregivers. Also, the Korean caregivers expressed more negative emotions than the U.S. caregivers, and consequently sought more emotional support from online support groups than the U.S. caregivers.