Introduction: Caring for a relative with dementia is linked with negative psychological and physical consequences for the caregiver. The number of studies analyzing the influence of specific values and thoughts on caregivers’ distress remains sparse. Objectives and method: The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of both familism dimensions and dysfunctional thoughts specific to caregiving on depression in a sample of 334 dementia caregivers. Results: The results of this study suggest that familism can have positive influences on caregiving distress when the family is perceived as a source of support. However, the dimensions of familism pertaining to a strong adherence to values regarding both feelings of obligation to provide support as well as behaviors and attitudes that should be followed by different members of a family were linked with caregivers’ distress through their influence on dysfunctional thoughts. Conclusion: This study provides support for the importance of conceptualizing familism as a multidimensional construct with both positive and negative effects on caregivers’ emotional distress and suggests that familism affects emotional distress through dysfunctional thoughts rather than through burden appraisals. Clinical implications include attending to both the positive and negative effects of familism values and the potential value of targeting dysfunctional thoughts in cognitive-behavioral interventions with caregivers.

Background: Family care of frail elderly people has been linked to significant negative consequences for caregivers' mental health. Although outcome variables such as burden and depression have been widely analyzed in this population, guilt, an emotion frequently observed in caregivers, has not received sufficient attention in the research literature.Methods: Face-to-face interviews were carried out with 288 dementia caregivers. Guilt was measured using the Caregiver Guilt Questionnaire (CGQ).Results: Using principal components analysis, 22 items were retained and five factors were obtained which explained 59.25% of the variance. These factors were labeled: guilt about doing wrong by the care recipient, guilt about not rising to the occasion as caregivers, guilt about self-care, guilt about neglecting other relatives, and guilt about having negative feelings towards other people. Acceptable reliability indexes were found, and significant associations between the CGQ and its factors and the Zarit Burden Interview guilt factor were also found. Caregivers with higher scores on the CGQ also scored higher in depression, anxiety, frequency and appraisal of behavioral problems. Negative associations between the CGQ and its factors and frequency of/and satisfaction with leisure and social support were also found. Being female and caring for a parent were associated with higher scores on the CGQ.Conclusions: Feelings of guilt are significantly related to caregiver distress. The CGQ may be a useful measure for acknowledging feelings of guilt in caregivers; moreover, it can be used as an outcome variable for psychoeducational interventions aimed at reducing caregiver distress.

The moderator role of guilt on the effect of leisure activities on dementia caregivers’ depressive symptoms was analyzed, considering differences by kinship and guilt as a multidimensional construct. Participants were 351 caregivers (58.97% daughters, 10.54% sons, 19.66% wives, and 10.83% husbands). Measures included frequency of leisure activities, depressive symptoms, and guilt (total scale and 5 factors). A moderator role of guilt was found only for daughters. Specifically, significant interactions between guilt and frequency of leisure activities were found for the total scale and for the Factors 1 (guilt about doing wrong by the care recipient), 2 (guilt about failing to meet the challenges of caregiving), and 3 (guilt about self-care). For those daughters who reported lower levels of leisure activities, showing higher levels of guilt was associated with higher scores in depressive symptoms, whereas those with lower levels of guilt showed lower depressive symptoms scores. Feelings of guilt may have different consequences on caregivers’ distress depending on caregivers’ gender and kinship. Daughters with higher levels of guilt who do not engage in leisure activities may be especially vulnerable to suffering psychological distress.

Family caregivers of people with dementia often report feelings of guilt. However, the number of studies analyzing guilt and the factors associated with its appearance are scarce. The aim of this s...

Introduction: Studies analyzing the moderator role of self-efficacy have centered their attention on the relationship between stressors and distress. However, drawing upon the stress and coping model, the moderator effects of self-efficacy may appear in the relationship between other key elements of the stress process. Objectives and method: The purpose of this study was to analyze, in a sample of 167 dementia family caregivers, (1) the moderating effect of self-efficacy for managing behavioral problems on the relationship between frequency of behavioral problems and burden; and (2) the moderating effect of self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts on the relationship between burden and caregivers’ distress (depression and anxiety). Results: While no support has been found for the hypothesis that self-efficacy for managing behavioral problems moderates the relationship between frequency of behavioral problems and burden, our findings support the moderator role of self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts in the relationship between burden and distress. No differences in distress measures are found between caregivers with high and low scores on self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts when they report low levels of burden. However, when the levels of burden are high, caregivers with high self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts report significantly lower levels of distress than caregivers with low self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts. Conclusion: Self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts may be particularly effective for caregivers who report high burden scores, attenuating the impact of burden on caregivers’ distress (depression and anxiety).

Comorbid depression and anxiety is linked to worse outcomes such as increased impairment, distress, and morbidity, as well as worse treatment outcomes. Transdiagnostic variables such as cognitive fusion are considered potential factors for explaining comorbidity. The aim of this study was to analyze the differences between symptom profiles of caregivers (comorbid, depressive, anxiety, and subclinical) in terms of demographic and contextual factors, stress variables, and cognitive fusion. Individual interviews were conducted with 553 caregivers of a relative with dementia. Sociodemographic variables, stressors, cognitive fusion, and depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed. Caregivers were grouped into four symptom profiles, comorbid (n = 303), depressed (n = 40) anxiety (n = 86), and subclinical (n = 124), based on their depressive and anxiety symptoms. The likelihood of presenting a comorbid profile relative to the subclinical profile was higher in female caregivers. In addition, higher frequency of disruptive behaviors of the care recipient was a risk factor for presenting a comorbid profile relative to the other three profiles, and higher scores in cognitive fusion were a risk factor of comorbidity relative to the other profiles (anxiety, depressive, and subclinical). The findings suggest that the likelihood of presenting comorbid symptomatology is higher for female caregivers and those reporting higher levels of cognitive fusion and higher frequency of disruptive behaviors. These characteristics may describe a vulnerable profile of dementia family caregivers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).