Family caregivers of the impaired older persons: Comparison of their burden according to the type of a primary caregiver.

This dissertation compares the different relationships between spouse-caregivers and daughter-caregivers, and then between husb and -caregivers and wife-caregivers in the model that combines factors such as the caregiver's characteristics, level of the elder's impairment, and the caregiver's subjective reaction to the impairment, social support, and burden the caregiver experiences as a consequence of caring for the impaired older person. Although some research shows that child-caregivers are more vulnerable to caregiving burden than spouse-caregivers or that wife-caregivers are more burdened by the caregiving role than husb and -caregivers, few studies have tried to identify the sources of the variability. Using a community based sample of three most frequent types of caregivers of the impaired older persons; husb and s, wives, daughters (N = 559), the variability of caregiving burden is explored. Results show that daughter-caregivers are more burdened than spouse-caregivers and that wife-caregivers report more burden than husb and -caregivers. The impact of mental impairment of the elder on burden of the caregiver is very strong in all caregiver groups, although it is stronger for spouse-caregivers than for daughter-caregivers. Level of the caregiver's depression and caregiving hours have stronger effects on burden of daughter-caregivers than spouse-caregivers. The other finding is that the effect of the elder's physical impairment on burden is more likely to be mediated through the caregiver's subjective reaction in spouse-caregivers, but not in daughter-caregivers. However, the direct impact of the elder's mental impairment on burden is very powerful, and its mediating effect through the caregiver's reaction is diminished in all caregiver groups. Another finding shows that the buffering effect of emotional support on the impact of the elder's mental impairment on burden is stronger for spouse-caregivers than for daughter-caregivers. The number of confidants is found to moderate the effect of the elder's mental impairment on burden of husb and -caregivers, while emotional support buffers the impact of mental impairment of the elder on burden of wife-caregivers. The interaction effect of the elder's mental impairment and informal support, however, increases burden of husb and -caregivers. The interaction between the elder's mental impairment and formal service use also increases burden in husb and s. In other words, husb and -caregivers who take care of wives with more mental impairment are more burdened when they have either high informal support or high formal services, compared to when the supports are low. Intervention strategies and suggestions for the future research are discussed.PhDSocial workIndividual and family studiesGerontologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162336/1/9001666.pd