Caregiving outcomes for older mothers of adults with mental retardation: a test of the two-factor model of psychological well-being.

A two-factor model of caregiving appraisal and psychological well-being, based on previous findings with caregiving spouses (M.P. Lawton, M. Moss, M.H. Kleban, A. Glicksman, & M. Rovine, 1991), was tested with 225 older mothers who provided care at home to an offspring with mental retardation. The effects of objective caregiving stressors, caregiver resources, and subjective appraisals (caregiving satisfaction and burden) on the positive and negative dimensions of psychological well-being were examined. LISREL 8 analyses revealed that the model differed in two key ways for caregiving mothers: (a) Positive psychological well-being appeared to diminish subjective burden, and (b) both objective stressors and resources were unrelated to subjective burden. These findings suggest the need for future research into how caregiving dynamics are influenced by the specific nature of the relationship between the caregiver and the recipient.