Abstract

Objectives

A caregiving stress perspective suggests that caregiving harms psychological well-being in informal caregivers, whereas a caregiving rewards perspective suggests that provision of care benefits psychological well-being. This research examines whether both perspectives apply to caregiving experiences, but differently by the primary location of caregiving (i.e., in-home, other residence, and institution), as well as by gender.

Methods

We analyzed depression and life satisfaction in the nationally representative Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (N = 48,648), first comparing noncaregivers (N = 27,699) to a combined caregiver group (N = 20,949) and then stratifying caregivers by the primary location of care.

Results

When considered as a single group, caregivers suffered relative to noncaregivers in terms of life satisfaction and depression. When stratified by the location of care, only in-home caregivers reported both greater depression and lower life satisfaction. Nonresidential caregivers did not differ significantly in levels of depression from noncaregivers and reported higher life satisfaction. Institutional caregivers reported greater depression than noncaregivers, but did not differ significantly in life satisfaction. These patterns were stronger among women than men.

Discussion

Both the caregiving stress and caregiving rewards perspectives are applicable to the caregiving experience, with the stress perspective more applicable to in-home caregivers and the rewards perspective more relevant to nonresidential caregivers. Recommendations include targeted practice focused on the location of care as well as the gender of the caregiver. Given that nonresidential caregivers actually benefit from providing care, interventions need to focus on identifying and bolstering positive aspects of the caregiving experience.

中文翻译：

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加拿大纵向老龄化纵向研究中非正式护理人员的心理健康：护理位置为何如此重要。

摘要

目标

照料压力的观点表明，照料会损害非正式照料者的心理健康，而照料奖励的观点则表明，提供照料会有益于心理健康。这项研究检查了这两种观点是否都适用于护理经历，但是在护理的主要地点（即家庭，其他住所和机构）以及性别方面有所不同。

方法

我们在全国代表性的加拿大老年人纵向研究（N = 48,648）中分析了抑郁和生活满意度，首先将非照料者（N = 27,699）与合并照料者组（N = 20,949）进行比较，然后按主要照护地点对照料者进行分层。

结果

当被视为一个群体时，照料者相对于非照料者而言在生活满意度和抑郁感方面要遭受痛苦。如果按护理地点进行分层，则只有家庭护理人员会报告抑郁症加剧和生活满意度降低。非居住者的照料者与非照料者的抑郁水平没有显着差异，并且生活满意度更高。机构护理人员报告的抑郁症比非护理人员更大，但生活满意度没有显着差异。女性的这种模式比男性强。

讨论区

照料压力和照料奖励的观点都适用于照护经历，其中压力观点更适用于居家照护者，奖励观点更适用于非居住照料者。建议包括针对护理地点和护理人员性别的针对性实践。鉴于非居住区护理人员实际上可以从提供护理中受益，因此干预措施应着重于确定和加强护理经验的积极方面。