Ashare Rebecca L, Brewer Benjamin, Patterson Freda, Hubbard Adeline, Longacre Margaret L
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States; Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260, United States.
College of Health Sciences, University of Delaware, The STAR Campus, Newark, DE 19713, United States.
Geriatr Nurs. 2022 Jan-Feb;43:77-84. doi: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2021.11.004. Epub 2021 Nov 26.
The current study sought to evaluate whether psychological and/or behavioral health moderate the relationship between caregiving and physical health.
Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey (2017-2018), separate composite scores were created for psychological and behavioral health. Self-reported physical health was the primary outcome. The sample was 1,387 non-caregivers and 266 caregivers.
The psychological, behavioral, and self-reported physical health did not significantly differ between caregivers and non-caregivers, but psychological and behavioral health were shown to differentially affect self-reported health outcomes among caregivers, compared to non-caregivers. Caregivers with worse psychological health had higher odds of experiencing poor physical health versus non-caregivers, while caregivers with better behavioral health had lower odds of having better general health versus non-caregivers.
These data extend our understanding on how to consider the impact of psychological and behavioral health as a caregiver and opportunities to develop targeted interventions.