Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

PURPOSE: Funded by an RO1 research grant from the National Institute on Aging, the second Family Relations in Later Life project (FRILL II) has completed phase one of the five year study of long-term caregiving to older persons in Athens, GA, Tuscaloosa, AL, and Pittsburgh, PA. Based upon the responses from 419 caregivers (CGs), and using standardized measurements, we were able to explore the relations between components of CGs' mental health (depression, anxiety, anger, and resentment) and self-reports of their harmful caregiving behavior (physical neglect, financial exploitation, and total potentially harmful behavior (PHB) (including PHB physical and PHB psychological subscales) to older care recipients (CRs). METHODS: Using various sampling methods, including Random Digit Dialing, CG-CR dyads, who met inclusion criteria, were recruited from the three areas of the U.S. Eligible CGs resided in the same household as the CR and provided at least one basic Activity of Daily Living (ADL) or two Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) to the CR who was at least 60 years of age. Trained project staff independently interviewed each CG and CR dyad in separate rooms within their home. This presentation focuses solely on CGs. RESULTS: Regression analyses were used to identify statistically significant relations between CG mental health measures and their reports regarding inadequate care. For reports of physical neglect, CG anger and CG resentment accounted for 10% of the variance; for reports of financial exploitation, CG anger accounted for 6.2% of the variance; for reports of PHB, CG resentment and CG anger accounted for 28% of explained variance; for reports of PHB Physical, anger accounted for 6.7% of the variance; and for PHB Psychological, CG resentment and anger accounted for 29% of the variance. Among the four mental health measures, CG anger was most predictive of inadequate caregiving behavior toward CRs, followed by CG resentment. CG anger and CG resentment were found to be modestly correlated (r=.423). Thus, it is concluded that these two mental health constructs are somewhat independent of the other. Depression and anxiety were not found to be significantly related to the outcome variables. IMPLICATIONS: There are significant reasons to give special attention to the anger and resentment of CGs. Training CGs in anger management skills is believed to be helpful in efforts to prevent the escalation of anger into harmful types of behavior. More research is needed on the reasons for both CG anger and resentment in the caregiving experience. Findings from this study have implications for preventive programs and caregiving interventions that ensure professional attention to the needs of CGs and, thus, to the quality of care received by CRs.