Receiving while giving: the differential roles of receiving help and satisfaction with help on caregiver rewards among spouses and adult-children.

OBJECTIVE

There is a growing body of literature on the rewards associated with caregiving and the utility of these rewards on buffering the negative consequences of caring for a family member with Alzheimer's disease. Many psychoeducational interventions aim to empower caregivers to seek and obtain help from their social support network, with the expectation that help will enable them to cope more effectively.

METHODS

This study investigated the impact of changes in help and changes in satisfaction with help on positive aspects of caregiving for both spouse (N = 254) and adult-child (N = 208) caregivers who attended a psychoeducational intervention.

RESULTS

Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed that increases in amount of help and satisfaction with help were significantly linked with increases in caregiver rewards for adult-children. However, only increases in satisfaction with help were significantly related to increases in caregiver rewards for spouses.

CONCLUSIONS

These group differences suggest that the quality of support is critical for spouses, whereas both quality and receiving extra help are useful for adult-child caregivers. These findings are discussed in terms of the importance of understanding the differential needs of spouse and adult-child caregivers in practice.