Bourgeois M S, Beach S, Schulz R, Burgio L D
Center for Social and Urban Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
Psychol Aging. 1996 Sep;11(3):527-37. doi: 10.1037//0882-7974.11.3.527.
The purpose of this study was to investigate primary caregiving spouses' and their lay helpers' divergent opinions about the caregiving environment. Through parallel assessments, both primary and secondary caregivers of a patient with Alzheimer's disease were asked to rate the degree of patient problem behaviors; the degree of strain the primary caregiver was experiencing; and primary care-giver efficacy, or perceived ability to cope with caregiving demands. Analyses concentrated on the general levels of disagreement in these domains, as well as on potential predictors and consequences of such disagreement. Results revealed a substantial divergence in perceptions across caregiving domains, with relatively less disagreement about patient problem behaviors and primary caregiver strain than about primary caregiver coping efficacy. Primary caregivers with relatively pessimistic secondary caregivers experienced relatively less psychosocial distress than primary caregivers with more optimistic helpers. These findings were strongest among female-female caregiving dyads. Theoretical implications and methodological limitations of the study are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.
本研究的目的是调查主要照顾配偶及其非专业帮助者对照顾环境的不同看法。通过平行评估，要求阿尔茨海默病患者的主要和次要照顾者对患者问题行为的程度、主要照顾者所经历的压力程度以及主要照顾者的效能感（即应对照顾需求的感知能力）进行评分。分析集中在这些领域的总体分歧水平，以及这种分歧的潜在预测因素和后果。结果显示，在照顾领域的认知上存在很大差异，与主要照顾者应对效能相比，在患者问题行为和主要照顾者压力方面的分歧相对较小。与有较乐观帮助者的主要照顾者相比，有相对悲观的次要照顾者的主要照顾者经历的心理社会困扰相对较少。这些发现在女性 - 女性照顾二元组中最为明显。讨论了该研究的理论意义和方法局限性，以及对未来研究的建议。
