Caregiving and the Stress Process: An Overview of Concepts and Their Measures

Abstract

This paper views caregiver stress as a consequence of a process comprising a number of interrelated conditions, including the socioeconomic characteristics and resources of caregivers and the primary and secondary stressors to which they are exposed. Primary stressors are hardships and problems anchored directly in caregiving. Secondary stressors fall into two categories: the strains experienced in roles and activities outside of caregiving, and intrapsychic strains, involving the diminishment of self-concepts. Coping and social support can potentially intervene at multiple points along the stress process.

A Comparison of Psychosocial Outcomes in Elderly Alzheimer Caregivers and Noncaregivers

“…Participants were administered the Role Overload scale (24), which asks participants to rate 4 items indicative of stress. A total score was created by summing responses to the 4 items.…”

“…The first was the Personal Mastery scale (24), which consists of 7 items inquiring about participants’ beliefs that life circumstances are under their control. Individuals rated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with each statement.…”

“…Participants completed the social support scale described by Pearlin and colleagues (24). This scale consists of 8 items assessing participants’ level of perceived support from friends and family (e.g., “the people close to you let you know they care about you”).…”

“…Identifying these areas may inform healthcare providers how best to assess risk for health consequences, and elucidate targets for treating caregiver distress. Specifically, we compared a sample of 125 Alzheimer’s caregivers and 60 elderly non-caregivers on a variety of psychosocial outcomes encompassing stress, mood, and both positive and negative coping resources which are thought to play a role in the development of negative outcomes in caregivers(23)and ultimately greater utilization of healthcare services. These new data are intended to aid researchers and care providers in determining areas for assessing/screening for caregiver stress as well as for developing and utilizing effective treatments for caregivers to help weather this upcoming healthcare storm.…”

The Differential Impact of Unique Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms for the Dementia Caregiver: How and Why Do Patients' Individual Symptom Clusters Impact Caregiver Depressive Symptoms?

“…According to the stress process model,(5;14) caregiving is a chronic stressor that gives rise to strains from multiple domains and ultimately leads to increased risk for psychiatric distress and diagnosable disorder. The model differentiates between objective stressors (the occurrence of care demands or symptoms related to disease severity of the patient), the caregiver’s subjective experience of those stressors, and background and contextual factors which impact the stressor and caregiver outcomes.…”