Liu Jinyu, Lu Nan, Lou Vivian W Q
a Columbia University , New York , New York , USA.
b Renmin University of China , Beijing , China.
Clin Gerontol. 2017 Oct-Dec;40(5):428-434. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2017.1305033. Epub 2017 Mar 10.
To explore the role of care tasks in the caregiving stress process, this study tested the relationships between distinct care tasks, primary stressors, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms among caregivers.
The data were collected from a sample of 754 caregivers who provided care for frail, elderly family members in Shanghai, China. Path analysis was conducted to identify the relationships between the three types of care tasks (monetary support, physical care and emotional care), the caregivers' background, primary stressors, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms.
The results show distinct paths through the three types of care tasks in the stress process. Caregivers with higher incomes were more likely to provide monetary support to their care recipients. Being a female caregiver and having greater primary stressors were associated with more involvement in physical care, which predicted higher levels of caregiver burden and further exacerbated depression. The cognitive impairment of care recipients was associated with greater emotional care, with the caregivers who provided more emotional care reporting higher levels of caregiver burden but lower levels of depression.
This study underscores the importance of considering different types of care tasks to properly understand caregiving stress across cultures and societies.
This study highlights the need for interventions to alleviate the caregiving stress by helping family caregivers understand the importance of emotional care, training them to appropriately meet the psychological and social needs of their care recipients and providing financial support for caregivers with lower income to purchase respite care services.
为探究护理任务在护理压力过程中的作用，本研究测试了不同护理任务、主要压力源、护理负担以及护理者抑郁症状之间的关系。
数据收集自754名在中国上海为体弱老年家庭成员提供护理的护理者样本。进行路径分析以确定三种护理任务（经济支持、身体护理和情感护理）、护理者背景、主要压力源、护理负担和抑郁症状之间的关系。
结果显示了压力过程中通过三种护理任务的不同路径。收入较高的护理者更有可能为其护理对象提供经济支持。女性护理者以及主要压力源较大与更多参与身体护理相关，这预示着更高的护理负担水平，并进一步加剧抑郁。护理对象的认知障碍与更多的情感护理相关，提供更多情感护理的护理者报告的护理负担水平较高，但抑郁水平较低。
本研究强调了考虑不同类型护理任务对于跨文化和社会正确理解护理压力的重要性。
本研究强调需要进行干预，通过帮助家庭护理者理解情感护理的重要性、培训他们适当满足护理对象的心理和社会需求以及为低收入护理者提供经济支持以购买临时护理服务来减轻护理压力。
