Groups of spouse (N = 285) and adult child (N = 244) caregivers of elderly parents suffering from Alzheimer's disease were interviewed regarding their caregiving behaviors, evaluations of caregiving, and general psychological well-being. A model of caregiving dynamics where the objective stressor, caregiver resources, and subjective appraisal of caregiving (operationalized as caregiving satisfaction and burden) were studied as they affected both positive affect and depression was tested. For spouses, caregiving satisfaction was not related to aspects of the stressor, but was a significant determinant of positive affect. Among adult children, high levels of caregiving behavior resulted in both greater caregiving satisfaction and burden. Burden, in turn, was related to depression in both groups but, among adult child caregivers, positive affect was not affected by caregiving satisfaction. Limited support was found for the hypothesis that the positive and negative aspects of caregiving contributed to analogous aspects of generalized psychological well-being but not to the opposite-valence outcomes.

Caregivers of disabled older people were studied in terms of their appraisal of the caregiving process. A conceptual approach based on stress theory suggested that such appraisal was broader than the traditional term, "caregiving burden." An item pool was constructed using traditional and new items to represent dimensions of subjective caregiving burden, caregiving satisfaction, caregiving impact, caregiving mastery, and traditional caregiving ideology. Component analysis of responses of 632 caregivers in a respite research project yielded factors that corresponded with those hypothesized; the content of similar factored responses from 239 caregivers in another study was quite similar. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in acceptance of the subjective burden, caregiving satisfaction, and caregiving impact factors. Used as composite item scores, evidence of their psychometric quality is presented.

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This study used daily reports of interactions in marriage to examine predictions from the conceptualization of intimacy as the outcome of an interpersonal process. Both partners of 96 married couples completed daily diaries assessing self-disclosure, partner disclosure, perceived partner responsiveness, and intimacy on each of 42 consecutive days. Multivariate multilevel modeling revealed that self-disclosure and partner disclosure both significantly and uniquely contributed to the contemporaneous prediction of intimacy. Perceived partner responsiveness partially mediated the effects of self-disclosure and partner disclosure on intimacy. Global marital satisfaction, relationship intimacy, and demand-withdraw communication were related to daily levels of intimacy. Implications for the importance of perceived partner responsiveness in the intimacy process for married partners are discussed.

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