Sydney Nursing School, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
Aging Ment Health. 2011 Aug;15(6):671-8. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2011.562176. Epub 2011 May 24.
Anxiety and depression are major health problems for carers of frail older people. Positive reactions to caregiving have been shown to protect people against anxiety and depression. The aims of this study are to explore specific aspects of self-esteem, termed positive caregiving reactions, and examine its relationship with caregiving anxiety and depressive symptoms.
A cross-sectional study of a cohort of carers (n = 119) of community-living people (70 years) identified empirically as frail completed postal questionnaires. Positive caregiver reactions were evaluated using the self-esteem subscale (seven items) of the Caregiver Reaction Assessment (CRA). Anxiety and depressive symptoms were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
Anxiety and depressive symptoms were related significantly (p < 0.05) to six of the seven CRA self-esteem items. Caregiving resentment scores were relatively low, mean score (SD) 1.79 (0.91) on a 1-5 scale with higher scores indicating more resentment: yet regression analysis revealed that this factor was the only independent predictor of anxiety and depressive symptoms (r² = 0.093, p = 0.044 for anxiety, and r² = 0.121, p = 0.041 for depression).
The results of this study indicate that those carers who resent having to care for their frail older relative are susceptible to anxiety and depressive symptoms. This study supports the notion that there is a need for assessment of caregiving reactions in carers of frail older people.
焦虑和抑郁是体弱老年人照顾者的主要健康问题。积极的照顾反应已被证明可以保护人们免受焦虑和抑郁的影响。本研究旨在探讨自尊的具体方面，即积极的照顾反应，并探讨其与照顾焦虑和抑郁症状的关系。
对 119 名（n=119）社区居住的（70 岁）体弱老年人的照顾者进行了横断面研究，这些照顾者是通过实证方法确定的。使用照顾者反应评估（CRA）的自尊分量表（七个项目）评估积极的照顾者反应。焦虑和抑郁症状采用医院焦虑抑郁量表（HADS）进行测量。
焦虑和抑郁症状与 CRA 自尊量表的七个项目中的六个有显著相关性（p<0.05）。照顾者怨恨得分相对较低，均值（SD）为 1.79（0.91），评分越高表示怨恨程度越高：然而，回归分析显示，该因素是焦虑和抑郁症状的唯一独立预测因素（r²=0.093，p=0.044 用于焦虑，r²=0.121，p=0.041 用于抑郁）。
本研究结果表明，那些怨恨不得不照顾体弱老年人的照顾者容易出现焦虑和抑郁症状。本研究支持这样一种观点，即需要对体弱老年人的照顾者进行照顾反应评估。
