Adult daughters and aging mothers: The role of guilt in the experience of caregiver burden

Abstract

Although guilt is often identified as being a common emotion experienced by family caregivers in the clinical literature and in small descriptive studies, it has only recently emerged as a construct in the empirical research focused on identifying predictors of caregiver distress. Using Pearlin's stress process model, and based on data from 66 midlife adult daughters caring for aging mothers, we explored the extent to which guilt contributes to caregiver burden. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that guilt was positively correlated with burden and that it accounted for a significant amount of the variance in caregiver's sense of burden even after contextual and stressor variables were controlled. Our research suggests the importance of clinicians seeking to understand how individuals judge their caregiving performance and targeting negative self-appraisals, which affect individuals' mental health, for change. The challenge for clinicians is to help guilt-ridden caregivers revise their evaluative standards and engage in self-forgiveness and self-acceptance.

Validation of the Caregiver Guilt Questionnaire (CGQ) in a sample of British dementia caregivers

“…As highlighted by Zarit and Femia (2008), 50%-80% of caregiving samples do not show clinically significant symptoms of depression; however, guilt is a common experience of caregivers (Samuelsson et al, 2001;Gonyea et al, 2008;Rosa et al, 2010) and may have an impact on self-care and use of social support (Losada et al, 2010). Longitudinal studies are required to establish causation and mediation; however, as suggested by Kim et al (2011), we also hypothesize that early interventions targeting caregiver guilt and its associated maladaptive cognitions and behaviors may lead to improvements in caregivers' psychological well-being before the development of a major depressive episode.…”

“…Guilt is one of the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder in the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), has been shown to be associated with depression in the general population (Kim et al, 2011) and is a common experience of caregivers (Samuelsson et al, 2001;Rosa et al, 2010). Gonyea et al (2008) found that 65% of their sample of adultchild caregivers experienced guilt in relation to their caregiving role. Although definitive causal models have not yet been established, it has been suggested that interventions targeting guilt may reduce the distress associated with guilt itself, as well as preventing or reducing negative psychological symptoms with which guilt has been associated, including but not limited to, depressive symptoms (Kim et al, 2011).…”

Concept Analysis: Alzheimer's Caregiver Stress

“…The following consequences were discovered after reviewing the literature: (a) depression (Beeson, 2003; Gallant & Connell, 1998; Schumacher et al, 1993); (b) anxiety (Winslow, 1997); (c) irascibility (Pearlin et al, 1990); (d) cognitive disturbance (Pearlin et al, 1990); (e) poor health status (Kiecolt-Glaser et al, 1996; von Känel et al, 2006); (f) yielding role (Pearlin et al, 1990); and (g) role entrapment due to guilt and shame of caregiving (Gonyea, Paris, & de Saxe Zerden, 2008; Goodman, Zarit, & Steiner, 1997). See Table 2 for consequences of caregiver stress.…”

Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy on Guilt Feeling Among Family Caregivers of Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease

“…Several studies have been undertaken to evaluate the guilt feeling among the family caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. The findings of these studies (Brodaty & Donkin, 2009;Gonyea, Paris, & de Saxe Zerden, 2008;Croog, Burleson, Sudilovsky, & Baume, 2006), were indicative of an existing high level of guilt that leads to increased care burden in the caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease.…”