Table 1 Summary of the included studies

A1

O’Dwyer et al., 2013 / Australia

9 (4:5)

25–82 (mean: 58.3)

Daughter (3),

Spouse(4),

Son-in-law (1),

Grandson (1)

Part-time: 3

Unemployed: 5

Job seeker:1

0.5–11

To conduct an initial exploration of carers’ experiences of suicidality and identify factors associated with risk and resilience, which could be used to guide further research

A descriptive qualitative study

In-depth interview

Thematic analysis

80%

A2

Donnellan et al., 2015/UK

20 (7:13)

62–89 (mean: 76.0)

Spouse (20)

Not presented

2–10

To assess whether spousal dementia carers can achieve resilience and to highlight which assets and resources they draw on to facilitate or hinder resilience, using an ecological framework

A qualitative study

In-depth interview

A grounded theory

80%

A3

Donnellan et al., 2017 / UK

23(7:16)

62–89 (mean: 75.1)

Spouse (23)

Not presented

2–10

to explore social support as a key component of resilience to identify the availability, function and perceived functional aspects of support provided to older spousal dementia carers

A qualitative study

In-depth interview

A grounded theory

90%

A4

Roberts et al., 2018/USA

33(4:29)

39–83 (mean: 65.8)

Daughter, son, daughter-in-law, son-in-law: 18

Wife: 12

Husband: 2

Sibling:1

Not presented

Not presented

To address this major public health challenge through the lens of caregiver resilience and caregiver respite programming

A mixed-method study

Face-to-face interview

Thematic analysis

70%

A5

Jones et al., 2019/UK

13(Not presented)

40–81 (median: 61)

Wife: 6

Son:1

Housemate:1

Daughter:2

Husband:2

Daughter in law:1

Part-time: 2

Retired: 8

Full time:2

Not working: 1

Not presented

(a) explore discrepancies and congruency between definitions of resilience in the academic literature and carers own conceptualisations; (b) assess differences and similarities in conceptualisations of resilience between carers with high, medium and low resilience scores; (c) compare carers’ perceived level of resilience with the level of resilience when measured on a standardized tool

A cross-sectional qualitative study

Semi-stuctured interviews

Qualitative analysis

80%

A6

Donnellan et al., 2018/UK

13(4:9)

65–85 (mean: 75.4)

Spouse: 13

Not presented

3–13

To examine trajectories of resilience and which assets and resources are associated with resilience and care status transitions in spousal dementia carers

A qualitative longitudinal study

In-depth interview

A grounded theory

90%

A7

Han et al., 2019/USA

39(9:30)

Mean:62

Adult child:82.1%

Spouse/partner:7.7%

Niece:5.1%

Friend: 5.1%

Full or part time job: 18

Not employed: 21

6 months or less—3 years or more

To identify challenges, possible solutions that are resources for resilience, and expected consequences from the perspective of family caregivers of hospice patients with dementia

A theory-driven, deductive content analysis study of secondary data obtained from a clinical trial

Individual interview

Content analysis

70%

A8

Conway et al., 2020/UK

12(Not presented

Not presented

Spouse/partner: 12

Not presented

3 month—6

To explore what resilience means in the context of couplehood in dementia, how dyads experience a shared sense of resilience, how they develop and maintain resilience and how this impacts upon their relationship

A qualitative study

In-depth interview

Constructive grounded theory

90%

A9

Jensen et al., 2020/USA

19(4:15)

20 s-80 s

Child:7

Grandchild: 5

Spouse/significant other: 1

Sibling: 2

Other family member:3

Friend: 1

Not presented

Not presented

to identify characteristics of resilience using surveys in 50 bereaved caregivers for persons with dementia who lost their care recipient in the past 6 month

A qualitative descriptive study

Individual interview

Content analysis

80%

A10

Donnellan et al., 2021/UK

13(2:11

47–81 (mean: 66.0)

Adult daughters: 6

Spouse: 7

Not presented

1–9

To identify the factors that facilitate or hinder resilience in spousal and adult daughter carers, and whether these factors can be mapped on to ecological resilience framework

A qualitative study

Semi-structured interview

Constructive grounded theory

90%

A11

Liu et al., 2021/USA

27(6:21)

50–89 (mean: 69.0)

Spouse: 46%

Adult Children: 50%

Sibling:4%

Full-time or part-time employed: 9

Retired or unemployed: 18

Mean: 2.48

To investigate the resilience of a growing but largely underserved and understudied population—Chinese American dementia caregivers

A qualitative study

Semi-structured interview

Hybrid grounded theory model

70%