Gonyea Judith G, O'Connor Maureen, Carruth Anastasia, Boyle Patricia A
School of Social Work, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2005 Sep-Oct;20(5):273-80. doi: 10.1177/153331750502000505.
Most studies investigating correlates of Alzheimer's disease (AD) caregiver burden have focused on the role of objective factors as opposed to subjective factors. Although objective variables (e.g., caregiver age, patient dementia severity, functional status) have been shown to be significantly associated with burden, the correlations generally are modest and explain relatively little of the variability in caregiver outcomes. Moreover, many of these objective variables are not modifiable and are of limited use in the development of caregiver interventions. Thus, there continues to be a need to identify powerful and modifiable determinants of caregiver burden. This study examined the role of two subjective factors-self-efficacy and depressive symptoms-as predictors of AD caregiver burden. Based on a sample of 80 AD caregivers, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that self-efficacy and depressive symptoms each had a significant independent effect on the experience of burden even after accounting for objective factors. These findings suggest that caregiver interventions aimed to reduce burden may benefit from the incorporation of specific strategies to increase self-efficacy and decrease depressive symptoms.
大多数研究阿尔茨海默病（AD）照料者负担相关因素的研究都聚焦于客观因素的作用，而非主观因素。尽管客观变量（如照料者年龄、患者痴呆严重程度、功能状态）已被证明与负担显著相关，但这种相关性通常较为适度，且对照料者结果变异性的解释相对较少。此外，这些客观变量中的许多是不可改变的，在照料者干预措施的制定中用途有限。因此，仍有必要确定强大且可改变的照料者负担决定因素。本研究考察了两个主观因素——自我效能感和抑郁症状——作为AD照料者负担预测因素的作用。基于80名AD照料者的样本进行的分层回归分析显示，即使在考虑了客观因素之后，自我效能感和抑郁症状各自对负担体验都有显著的独立影响。这些发现表明，旨在减轻负担的照料者干预措施可能会受益于纳入提高自我效能感和减轻抑郁症状的具体策略。
