Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
J Gerontol Soc Work. 2023 Feb-Mar;66(2):221-238. doi: 10.1080/01634372.2022.2097755. Epub 2022 Jul 6.
Caregiving can be physically challenging and emotionally draining for older caregivers. The existing research on physical and emotional strain mainly focuses on the general caregiver population. Using the Stress Process Model, this study aims to expand on existing caregiving literature by identifying correlates of physical and emotional strain among older caregivers. Hierarchical OLS regressions were performed on data selected from the 2015 Caregiving in the U.S. Survey (= 701). Several risk factors for physical strain and emotional strain were identified: Assistance with ADLs and IADLs, the number of health problems of the care recipient, and the receipt of formal support were positively associated with physical and emotional strain. Moreover, providing care to parents/parents-in-law was associated with higher levels of emotional strain than providing care to non-relatives. The number of care recipients was positively associated with emotional strain. Older African Americans experienced lower levels of physical strain than their white counterparts. The findings uncover the individual differences among older caregivers and provide insights into how these differences uniquely influence caregiving strain. Moreover, the study identifies a risk and protective profile of caregiving strain, which can help practitioners direct services and resources to older caregivers who are particularly at risk for caregiving strain.
照顾者可能会在身体和情感上承受巨大压力。现有关于身体和情感压力的研究主要集中在一般照顾者群体上。本研究运用压力过程模型，旨在通过确定老年照顾者身体和情感压力的相关因素，拓展现有照顾者文献。对 2015 年“美国照顾者调查”中选取的数据（=701）进行了分层 OLS 回归分析。确定了几个与身体和情感压力相关的风险因素：ADL 和 IADL 的协助、照顾对象的健康问题数量以及正式支持的获得与身体和情感压力呈正相关。此外，照顾父母/公婆比照顾非亲属更易导致较高的情感压力。照顾对象的数量与情感压力呈正相关。与白人相比，老年非裔美国人的身体压力水平较低。研究结果揭示了老年照顾者之间的个体差异，并深入了解这些差异如何独特地影响照顾压力。此外，该研究还确定了照顾压力的风险和保护特征，可以帮助从业者将服务和资源定向提供给那些特别容易承受照顾压力的老年照顾者。
