Objectives We investigated whether spousal caregivers’ greater perception of being appreciated by their partner for their help was associated with caregivers’ better mental health and whether caregivers’ higher role overload was related to their poorer mental health. We further evaluated whether spousal caregivers’ greater perceived gratitude buffered the association between their role overload and mental health. Methods We examined 306 spousal caregivers of older adults with chronic illness or disability, drawn from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving. We defined mental health as better psychological well-being and less psychological distress (i.e., fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms). Hierarchical regression models were estimated to test hypotheses. Results Greater perceived gratitude was associated with better psychological well-being, and higher role overload was related to poorer psychological well-being and greater psychological distress. In addition, greater perceived gratitude buffered the associations between role overload and anxiety symptoms as well as psychological well-being. Discussion Findings suggest that spousal caregivers’ role overload may be a strong risk factor for their poorer mental health, especially when caregivers feel less appreciated by their partner. Couple-oriented interventions to improve spousal caregivers’ mental health could be aimed at reducing their role overload and enhancing perceived gratitude.

中文翻译：

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老年人配偶照顾者的感激之情、角色超负荷和心理健康

目标 我们调查了配偶看护者对伴侣因帮助而受到赞赏的感觉是否与看护者更好的心理健康有关，以及看护者的较高角色超负荷是否与他们较差的心理健康有关。我们进一步评估了配偶照顾者的更大感知感激是否缓冲了他们的角色超负荷与心理健康之间的关联。方法 我们检查了 306 名患有慢性疾病或残疾的老年人的配偶照顾者，这些照顾者来自 2011 年国家健康和老龄化趋势研究和国家照顾研究。我们将心理健康定义为更好的心理健康和更少的心理困扰（即更少的抑郁和焦虑症状）。估计分层回归模型以检验假设。结果 更大的感恩感知与更好的心理健康相关，更高的角色超负荷与更差的心理健康和更大的心理困扰有关。此外，更大的感激之情缓冲了角色超负荷与焦虑症状以及心理健康之间的关联。讨论结果表明，配偶照顾者的角色超负荷可能是他们心理健康状况较差的一个重要风险因素，尤其是当照顾者觉得他们的伴侣不那么欣赏他们时。旨在改善配偶照顾者心理健康的以夫妻为导向的干预措施可能旨在减少他们的角色超负荷并增强感知感激之情。更大的感激之情缓冲了角色超负荷和焦虑症状以及心理健康之间的关联。讨论结果表明，配偶照顾者的角色超负荷可能是他们心理健康状况较差的一个重要风险因素，尤其是当照顾者觉得他们的伴侣不那么欣赏他们时。旨在改善配偶照顾者心理健康的以夫妻为导向的干预措施可能旨在减少他们的角色超负荷并增强感知感激之情。更大的感激之情缓冲了角色超负荷和焦虑症状以及心理健康之间的关联。讨论结果表明，配偶照顾者的角色超负荷可能是他们心理健康状况较差的一个重要风险因素，尤其是当照顾者觉得他们的伴侣不那么欣赏他们时。旨在改善配偶照顾者心理健康的以夫妻为导向的干预措施可能旨在减少他们的角色超负荷并增强感知感激之情。