Carers provide both practical and emotional support and often play an important role in coordination of care for recipients. The demands of caring may lead to increased levels of stress for the carer, which can affect mental health and quality of life. This study examined the relationship between being a carer and psychological distress (assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale [K10]), and explored the moderating effect of social support in that relationship using a large sample. The study used data from the 45 and Up study, a large cohort study of individuals aged 45 years and over in New South Wales, Australia, and applied multiple regression methods and moderation analysis. The sample for the current study comprised 267,041 participants drawn from the baseline dataset, with valid data on the primary outcome (carer status). The mean age of participants was 62.73 (±11.18) years, and 4.23% and 7.13% were identified as full-time and part-time carers, respectively. Compared to non-carers, full-time carers had K10 scores that were on average, higher by 1.87, while part-time carers’ K10 scores were on average higher by 1.60 points. A perception of social support reduced the strength of the relationship between carer status and psychological distress by 40% for full-time carers and 60% for part-time carers. The findings have important implications, for both prevention and treatment of psychological problems among carers. In terms of prevention, they suggest that public health campaigns focused on increasing awareness regarding the psychological burden faced by carers would be useful. In terms of intervention, potential treatments that focus on improving social support networks may be helpful. The results are particularly important in the current context of an ageing population in Australian and other developed countries, where caregiving is likely to play an increasing role in the care and support services.

中文翻译：

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照顾者的心理困扰和社会支持的调节作用。

照顾者既提供实际支持又提供情感支持，并且经常在协调对接收者的护理方面发挥重要作用。照料的需求可能会导致照料者的压力增加，从而影响心理健康和生活质量。这项研究检查了照顾者和心理困扰之间的关系（使用凯斯勒心理困扰量表[K10]进行了评估），并使用大量样本探讨了社会支持在这种关系中的调节作用。该研究使用了来自45岁及以上研究的数据，该研究是一项针对澳大利亚新南威尔士州45岁及以上年龄人群的大型队列研究，并应用了多种回归方法和中度分析。当前研究的样本包括来自基线数据集的267,041名参与者，以及有关主要结局（照护者身份）的有效数据。参与者的平均年龄为62.73（±11.18）岁，分别确定为4.23％和7.13％为全职和兼职护理人员。与非护理人员相比，全日制护理人员的K10分数平均高出1.87，而兼职护理人员的K10分数平均高1.60分。社会支持的感知使专职护理人员的照护状况与心理困扰之间的关系强度降低了40％，而兼职护理人员则降低了60％。该发现对护理人员心理问题的预防和治疗均具有重要意义。在预防方面，他们认为集中于提高对护理人员所面临的心理负担的认识的公共卫生运动将是有益的。在干预方面，专注于改善社会支持网络的潜在治疗方法可能会有所帮助。在当前澳大利亚和其他发达国家人口老龄化的背景下，结果尤为重要，因为在澳大利亚和其他发达国家中，照料可能在照料和支持服务中发挥越来越大的作用。