Burden Predictors for Informal Caregivers of Older Adults in Spain: The Role of Cohabitation, Coping Strategies, Social Support, and Evaluation of Preexisting Relationships

Abstract

Abstract Given the role that informal caregivers play in caring for older adults and the importance of understanding the variables that may predict the burden that they experience due to caregiving, the aim of this article is to examine the relationship between different variables and the caregiver’s subjective burden. Authors examined the relationship between caregivers’ sociodemographic characteristics (age and gender), the context in which the care is provided (cohabiting or not), duty as a reason for taking on the role of caregiver, the evaluation of the preexisting relationship between caregiver and care recipient, as well as coping strategies and social support as predictor variables of subjective burden. For this purpose, 161 caregivers of older Spanish adults completed a questionnaire containing information on the corresponding variables. The results indicate that people cohabiting with care recipients experience a greater subjective burden than those who live apart. The caregiver’s evaluation of their preexisting relationship with the care recipient and perceived family support negatively predicts the subjective burden, while maladaptive coping strategies positively predict it. These results underline the importance of considering these variables in caregiver support programs.