Caregiver Attributions for Late‐Life Depression and Their Associations with Caregiver Burden

Abstract

Late-life depression (LLD) has detrimental effects on family caregivers that may be compounded when caregivers believe that depressive behaviors are volitional or within the patient’s capacity to control. In this study we examined three person-centered caregiver attributions that place responsibility for LLD on the patient (i.e., character, controllability, and intention), and the impact of such attributions on levels of general caregiver burden and burden specific to patient depressive symptoms. Participants were 212 spouses and adult children of older adults enrolled in a depression treatment study. Over one third of caregivers endorsed character attributions, which significantly predicted greater levels of both general and depression-specific burden. Intention attributions were significantly associated with general burden, but not depression-specific burden. Contrary to our expectation, controllability attributions did not predict either type of burden. Our findings suggest that the assessment of family caregiver attributions for LLD may be useful in identifying caregivers at risk for burden and subsequent health effects, as well as those who may need education and support to provide effective care to a vulnerable population of older adults.

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Research on Supportive Psychosocial, Drug Treatment, and Health Education Intervention and Health Management Model of Community-Residing Elderly Adults With Late Life Depression in Liaoning Province: A Protocol

“…c 30 LLD patients and their primary caregivers in the trial group, and 30 LLD patients and caregivers in the control group. 4. Amos version 22.0 statistical software will be used for SEM of the risk factors for LLD.…”

“…Late life depression (LLD) is complex, burdensome, and difficult to treat. Specifically, it refers to elderly people who, for the first time in their lives, meet criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) or display clinically significant depressive symptoms such as functional disability, cognitive decline, increased risk of medical comorbidity (e.g., co-dementia), and even suicide in severe cases (1)(2)(3)(4). Meanwhile, MDD in the elderly, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV TR), has been a growing public health concern, and it is projected to be the second leading cause of disease by the year 2020 (5,6).…”