Stress, burden and depression in family carers of people with dementia

Glavni namen magistrske naloge je bil raziskati, ali je splošno zdravje družinskih negovalcev slabše od splošnega zdravja ostale populacije. Preverjali smo razliko v stresu, depresiji in zadovoljstvu z življenjem. Preverjali smo tudi razlike med negovalci, ki skrbijo za svojca z demenco, in sicer glede na različne dejavnike, kot so naziv uradnega skrbnika, skupno prebivališče s svojcem z demenco, samostojna ali deljena skrb za svojca, partnerji v primerjavi z odraslimi otroki in trajanje oskrbe v letih. V raziskavi je skupno sodelovalo 223 udeležencev. Pri zbiranju podatkov smo uporabili lestvico zadovoljstva z življenjem (SWLS), lestvico depresivnosti, anksioznosti in stresa (DASS) ter vprašalnik bremena (ZB-22). Ugotovili smo, da je splošno zdravje družinskih negovalcev slabše od splošnega zdravja ostale populacije. Družinski negovalci oseb z demenco doživljajo več stresa, izražajo višje ravni depresivnosti in so manj zadovoljni z življenjem kot posamezniki, ki ne skrbijo za svojca z demenco. Med omenjenima skupinama nismo našli statistično pomembne razlike v moči negativne povezanosti med stresom in zadovoljstvom z življenjem. V primerjavi med družinskimi negovalci oseb z demenco smo ugotovili, da družinski negovalci, ki živijo s svojcem z demenco, doživljajo večje breme kot tisti, ki ne živijo s svojcem z demenco. Ostale zastavljene hipoteze glede razlik med družinskimi negovalci niso niso bile potrjene.The main purpose of this master\u27s thesis was to investigate, whether the general health of family carers is worse than the general health of the rest of the population. We checked the differences in stress level, depression and life satisfaction. We were also checking the differences between carers who take care of a family member with dementia according to various factors, such as: having the title of official carer, living in the same household as the relative with dementia, independent or shared care for a relative with dementia, life partners in comparison with adult children in the role of carers, and duration of the caretaking in years. 223 people participated in the study. For data collection, we used The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS), and Burden Interview (ZB-22). We discovered that the general health of family carers is worse than the general health of the rest of the population. Family carers of people with dementia experience more stress, express higher depression levels, and are less satisfied with their lives than people who do not care for a relative with dementia. Between the two groups, we were unable to find a statistically significant difference in strength of negative connections between stress and life satisfaction. When comparing family carers of people with dementia, we discovered that family carers who live with the person they care for, experience a bigger burden than those who do not share a household with a relative with dementia. All other objectives connected to differences between family carers did not confirm our predictions