Department of Psychology, The University of Buckingham, Buckingham, UK.
Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.
J Ment Health. 2020 Apr;29(2):176-181. doi: 10.1080/09638237.2019.1630724. Epub 2019 Jun 26.
Informal caregivers are vulnerable to poor mental health and quality of life (QoL). Self-compassion may protect against this. This study investigated depression and QoL in partner caregivers of people with a long-term or neurological condition (e.g. dementia or spinal cord injury) and explored the extent to which QoL and self-compassion are predictive of depression. A cross-sectional, questionnaire design. Participants were recruited from charities and support groups. Partner caregivers ( = 57) completed assessments of depression, QoL, and self-compassion. Over half (61.8%) of caregivers experienced at least mild symptoms of depression, illustrating high prevalence among caregivers compared with the general population. Overall QoL was poor compared with non-caregivers. QoL was poorest in the physical domain ( = 51.9, SD = 10.1) and highest in the environmental domain ( = 64.9, SD = 15.8). Both self-compassion and QoL were significant predictors of depression ( < 0.05), explaining 48.8% of the variance. Hours spent providing care was also significantly predictive of depression ( < 0.05). Self-compassion and QoL may be important targets for supportive interventions for this population. This study underscores the importance of developing supportive interventions for informal partner caregivers, and developing self-compassion in these.
非专业照护者容易出现心理健康和生活质量（QoL）较差的情况。自我同情可能有助于预防这种情况。本研究调查了长期或患有神经疾病（如痴呆症或脊髓损伤）的患者的伴侣照护者的抑郁和 QoL，并探讨了 QoL 和自我同情对抑郁的预测程度。采用横断面问卷调查设计。参与者是从慈善机构和支持团体招募的。伴侣照护者（n=57）完成了抑郁、QoL 和自我同情的评估。超过一半（61.8%）的照护者出现了至少轻度的抑郁症状，这表明与一般人群相比，照护者的抑郁患病率很高。与非照护者相比，总体 QoL 较差。身体领域的 QoL 最差（=51.9，SD=10.1），环境领域的 QoL 最高（=64.9，SD=15.8）。自我同情和 QoL 都是抑郁的显著预测因素（<0.05），解释了 48.8%的方差。提供护理的时间也与抑郁显著相关（<0.05）。自我同情和 QoL 可能是针对这一人群的支持性干预的重要目标。本研究强调了为非专业伴侣照护者开发支持性干预措施以及在这些照护者中培养自我同情的重要性。
