Predictors of caregiving burden: impact of subjective health, negative affect, and loneliness of octogenarians and centenarians

ABSTRACT

Objectives: This study aimed (1) to determine whether octogenarian and centenarian care recipients’ self-report on physical, social, and emotional status are different from caregivers’ reports, (2) to assess associations between octogenarian and centenarian care recipients’ poor physical, social, and emotional status and caregiver burden, and (3) to determine which report, the care recipients’ self-report or caregivers’ report, about the participants’ physical and emotional status predicted more accurately levels of caregiver burden.

Method: Self-ratings and caregiver informant ratings were obtained from 309 participants of the Georgia Centenarian Study. Care recipients’ health, negative affect, and loneliness were reported by both the caregivers and care recipients for the analyses. Differences between care recipients’ and caregivers’ reports were assessed by t-test. Blockwise multiple regression analysis was computed to assess predictors of caregiver burden.

Results: Caregivers’ reports on the three measures were significantly higher than self-reports. Caregivers’ negative affect and loneliness, not physical health, reported by caregivers predicted higher caregiver burden. Care recipients’ reports did not predict caregiver burden.

Conclusion: Caregivers perceived care recipients’ social and emotional status more negatively, and caregivers’ negative perceptions on care recipients’ well-being status were an important predictor of caregiver burden.

KEYWORDS:

• Caregiver burden
• caregiver's perception
• loneliness
• negative affect

Acknowledgments

The Georgia Centenarian Study (Leonard W. Poon, PI) is funded by 1P01-AG17553 from the National Institute on Aging, a collaboration among the University of Georgia, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, Boston University, University of Kentucky, Emory University, Duke University, Wayne State University, Iowa State University, Temple University and University of Michigan. Additional investigators include S. M. Jazwinski, R. C. Green, M. MacDonald, M. Gearing, W. R. Markesbery (deceased), J. L. Woodard, M. A. Johnson, J. S. Tenover, W. L. Rodgers, D. B. Hausman, C. Rott, A. Davey, and J. Arnold. Authors acknowledge the valuable recruitment and data acquisition effort from M. Burgess, K. Grier, E. Jackson, E. McCarthy, K. Shaw, L. Strong, and S. Reynolds, data acquisition team manager; S. Anderson, E. Cassidy, M. Janke, and J. Savla, data management; M. Poon for project fiscal management. Additional support was provided by U.S.D.A. Hatch Project Grant, IOW03716 to the second author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

National Institute on Aging [grant number: 1P01-AG17553].