Assessing the relationship between spiritual intelligence and care burden in family caregivers of older adults with chronic diseases

Abstract

Introduction: Providing care to older adults with chronic diseases can make their family caregivers face care burdens as a set of physical, psychological, social, and economic problems. Spiritual intelligence is also one of the psychological components that can lead to self-control and maintaining inner peace in difficult situations. This study aimed to assess the relationship between spiritual intelligence and care burden in family caregivers of the elderly with chronic diseases. Methods This cross-sectional correlational study was conducted in 2022–2023 in Tehran. Several 263 qualified family caregivers were included in the survey by multi-stage sampling method from comprehensive health service centers. The criteria for entering the research included: caring for people over 60 years old with chronic disease, ability to speak Persian, not suffering from psychological disorders, and caring for the elderly at least 20 hours a week for at least 6 months. Data were collected through demographic information questionnaires, Zarit Burden Interview (22 items), and spiritual intelligence self-report inventory (24 items) and were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression statistical tests and SPSS 22 version. P-values ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. Results A total of 263 family caregivers completed the research tools. Their average age was 46.88 ± 11.71 years, and most were women (81.4%). The results showed that there is an inverse and significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and care burden (p = 0.002, r₍₂₆₃₎=-0.19). The results of multiple regression showed that there is a significant multiple relationship between spiritual intelligence and the demographic characteristics of caregivers and the elderly with care burden (P = 0.000, F_(12,199) = 6.11, R² = 0.27, R = 0.52). Conclusions In this study, family caregivers had an average care burden and a high level of spiritual intelligence. Care burden affects various aspects of the life of family caregivers of older adults with chronic diseases and is related to spiritual intelligence. Considering that informal caregivers play an important role in caring for older adults with chronic diseases; Therefore, identifying factors related to care burden helps to design appropriate interventions to reduce the care burden of this group.