Relationships between Caregiving Stress, Depression, and Self-Esteem in Family Caregivers of Adults with a Disability.
DeokJu Kim
PMID 29114184WHAT IT FOUND
Family caregivers of adults with disability reported more stress when depression was higher, and lower self-esteem when financial or psychological stress was higher.
Older spousal caregivers with no paid work and long caregiving hours reported more stress.
Key findings
01Caregiving stress was significantly associated with depression, and financial and psychological stress were significantly associated with lower self-esteem.
02Caregivers who were female, aged 60 years or higher, the spouse of the care recipient, without an occupation, or spending more time and money on caregiving reported higher caregiving stress.
03Depression was the largest factor associated with caregiving stress, followed by self-esteem, age, caregiving time and caregiving expenses.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Participants were recruited from two hospitals in one city, so the findings may not represent family caregivers elsewhere. The study measured stress, depression and self-esteem at one time, so it cannot show which one came first or caused the other. The paper reports associations and p values, but no intervention was tested, so it cannot show whether support programs reduce stress, depression or raise self-esteem.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the correlations as proof that reducing depression, improving self-esteem, or changing caregiver demographics will lower stress. This was a questionnaire survey of caregivers at one time point, and no intervention was tested.