Gilliam C M, Steffen A M
Department of Psychology, University of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Aging Ment Health. 2006 Mar;10(2):79-86. doi: 10.1080/13607860500310658.
The present study was intended to replicate the findings of Steffen et al. (2002) of a negative relationship between caregiving self-efficacy and depressive symptoms among family dementia caregivers. Female family caregivers (N=74) of community-dwelling individuals diagnosed with dementia completed a telephone interview and self-report assessment packet that included measures of caregiving self-efficacy and depressive symptoms. There was a direct negative relationship between caregiving self-efficacy and depressive symptoms after controlling for objective stressors. There was no support, however, for the hypothesis that caregiving self-efficacy would operate as a moderator, such that the relationship between objective stressors (cognitive impairment and behavior problems) and caregivers' depressive symptoms would be strongest for caregivers reporting lower levels of self-efficacy. The results of this study suggest that caregiving self-efficacy has a strong, direct relationship with depressed symptoms for dementia family caregivers. Longitudinal research is needed to determine if it is an appropriate focus of future intervention research.
本研究旨在重复斯特芬等人（2002年）的研究结果，即家庭痴呆症护理者的护理自我效能感与抑郁症状之间存在负相关关系。社区中被诊断患有痴呆症的居家个体的女性家庭护理者（N = 74）完成了一次电话访谈和自我报告评估包，其中包括护理自我效能感和抑郁症状的测量。在控制了客观压力源后，护理自我效能感与抑郁症状之间存在直接的负相关关系。然而，对于护理自我效能感将起到调节作用的假设，即对于报告自我效能感水平较低的护理者而言，客观压力源（认知障碍和行为问题）与护理者抑郁症状之间的关系最为强烈，该假设未得到支持。本研究结果表明，护理自我效能感与痴呆症家庭护理者的抑郁症状之间存在强烈的直接关系。需要进行纵向研究以确定它是否是未来干预研究的合适重点。
