Adding amusement to anxiety: uses of humor in informal caregiver support groups

ABSTRACT This study assessed how informal caregivers for people with dementia humorously communicate about their caregiving tasks and experiences. Support groups for informal caregivers for people with dementia were observed, and instances of humor were thematically analyzed. Informal caregivers used humor at specific moments, including when sharing struggles and exchanging advice, and they used various types of humor, including affiliative, self-defeating, aggressive, supportive, and contestive humor. Informal caregivers’ humor use may operate as an effective coping technique and supportive strategy of reinforcement and encouragement, but humor may also be harmful or detrimental to supportive interactions. These findings offer helpful insights into informal caregivers’ communication patterns and reveal humor’s potential to bring individuals relationally closer together, even over difficult topics such as dementia.