Social and Behavioral Sciences Division, Yale School of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Social and Behavioral Sciences Division, Yale School of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2014 Jun;22(6):570-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2012.11.023. Epub 2013 Mar 26.
We examined whether older caregiving veterans differ from noncaregiving veterans in terms of health and psychosocial factors and how these factors and caregiving aspects (i.e., hours, relationship type) relate to caregiving strain and reward. We also evaluated two hypotheses: (1) combat exposure provides protection from emotional caregiving strain, and (2) grandparenting is particularly rewarding.
We used a cross-sectional web survey of a nationally representative sample of older veterans in the United States. Data were drawn from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, and participants were 2,025 U.S. veterans aged 60 or older (mean: 71.0; SD: 7.1; range: 60-96). Participants completed measures of caregiving status, sociodemographic characteristics, combat exposure, physical and mental health, cognitive status, and psychosocial characteristics. Caregivers reported caregiving hours, caregiving type, emotional and physical strain, and reward.
A total of 20.4% of U.S. older veterans are caregivers. As predicted, among the veteran caregivers, (1) combat exposure was associated with less emotional caregiving strain (odds ratio [OR]: 0.57), and (2) grandparenting was associated with increased perception of caregiving reward (OR: 5.28). Resilience was negatively associated with physical strain, whereas depressive symptoms were associated with greater emotional strain; gratitude, happiness, and social support were additionally associated with greater reward. Caregivers were more likely to be married and highly educated than noncaregivers but did not differ with respect to health or psychosocial characteristics.
One in five older U.S. veterans is a caregiver. Older veterans' combat exposure may decrease the emotional demands of caregiving, and grandparenting is perceived as particularly rewarding. Results suggest that older veterans are an important caregiving resource that deserves tailored resources.
我们研究了老年照顾者退伍军人与非照顾者退伍军人在健康和心理社会因素方面的差异，以及这些因素和照顾方面（即，时间、关系类型）与照顾压力和回报的关系。我们还评估了两个假设：（1）战斗暴露提供了对情感照顾压力的保护，（2）照顾孙辈特别有回报。
我们使用了一项美国全国代表性老年退伍军人样本的横断面网络调查。数据来自国家健康和退伍军人复原力研究，参与者为 2025 名年龄在 60 岁或以上的美国退伍军人（平均年龄：71.0；标准差：7.1；范围：60-96）。参与者完成了照顾状况、社会人口特征、战斗暴露、身体和心理健康、认知状况和心理社会特征的测量。照顾者报告了照顾时间、照顾类型、情感和身体压力以及回报。
共有 20.4%的美国老年退伍军人是照顾者。正如预测的那样，在退伍军人照顾者中，（1）战斗暴露与较少的情感照顾压力相关（优势比[OR]：0.57），（2）照顾孙辈与增加照顾回报的感知相关（OR：5.28）。复原力与身体压力呈负相关，而抑郁症状与更大的情感压力相关；感激、幸福和社会支持与更大的回报也相关。照顾者比非照顾者更有可能已婚和受过高等教育，但在健康或心理社会特征方面没有差异。
五分之一的美国老年退伍军人是照顾者。老年退伍军人的战斗暴露可能会降低照顾的情感需求，而照顾孙辈被认为特别有回报。结果表明，老年退伍军人是一个重要的照顾资源，值得提供有针对性的资源。
