Psychology Department, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain. andres.losada@urjc.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2010 Jun;22(4):650-60. doi: 10.1017/S1041610210000074. Epub 2010 Feb 22.
Family care of frail elderly people has been linked to significant negative consequences for caregivers' mental health. Although outcome variables such as burden and depression have been widely analyzed in this population, guilt, an emotion frequently observed in caregivers, has not received sufficient attention in the research literature.
Face-to-face interviews were carried out with 288 dementia caregivers. Guilt was measured using the Caregiver Guilt Questionnaire (CGQ).
Using principal components analysis, 22 items were retained and five factors were obtained which explained 59.25% of the variance. These factors were labeled: guilt about doing wrong by the care recipient, guilt about not rising to the occasion as caregivers, guilt about self-care, guilt about neglecting other relatives, and guilt about having negative feelings towards other people. Acceptable reliability indexes were found, and significant associations between the CGQ and its factors and the Zarit Burden Interview guilt factor were also found. Caregivers with higher scores on the CGQ also scored higher in depression, anxiety, frequency and appraisal of behavioral problems. Negative associations between the CGQ and its factors and frequency of/and satisfaction with leisure and social support were also found. Being female and caring for a parent were associated with higher scores on the CGQ.
Feelings of guilt are significantly related to caregiver distress. The CGQ may be a useful measure for acknowledging feelings of guilt in caregivers; moreover, it can be used as an outcome variable for psychoeducational interventions aimed at reducing caregiver distress.
照顾体弱的老年人对照顾者的心理健康会产生重大的负面影响，家庭照顾者为此承受了很大的压力。尽管在这一人群中，已经广泛分析了诸如负担和抑郁等结果变量，但在研究文献中，内疚感作为一种经常在照顾者身上观察到的情绪，并没有得到足够的关注。
对 288 名痴呆症照顾者进行了面对面的访谈。使用照顾者内疚问卷（CGQ）来衡量内疚感。
通过主成分分析，保留了 22 个项目，得到了五个因素，解释了 59.25%的方差。这些因素被标记为：对照顾对象做错事的内疚感、作为照顾者未能挺身而出的内疚感、对自我照顾的内疚感、对忽视其他亲属的内疚感以及对对他人有负面情绪的内疚感。发现了可接受的可靠性指标，并且 CGQ 及其各因素与 Zarit 负担访谈内疚因素之间存在显著关联。CGQ 得分较高的照顾者在抑郁、焦虑、行为问题的频率和评估方面得分也较高。CGQ 及其各因素与休闲和社会支持的频率和满意度呈负相关。女性和照顾父母与 CGQ 得分较高有关。
内疚感与照顾者的痛苦显著相关。CGQ 可能是一种有用的方法，可以用来承认照顾者的内疚感；此外，它可以用作减轻照顾者痛苦的心理教育干预的结果变量。
