Spouse and Adult Child Differences in Caregiving Burden

This study compared the correlates of burden for spouse and adult child caregivers at two points in time and assessed whether correlates at T-1 predicted burden at T-2. The sample consisted of 878 caregivers to older adults throughout British Columbia who were prescribed cholinesterase inhibitors. Burden was measured six months after the older adult was prescribed the medication and one year later (n = 759). Findings suggest that adult children experience more burden than spouses at both T-1 and T-2 with adult children but not spouses decreasing their burden over time. Correlates of T-1 burden explained significant amounts of variance, revealing differential correlates for the two groups and the importance of caregiver characteristics over patient characteristics. Burden at T-2 is explained mostly by T-2 factors, plus T-1 burden, suggesting the importance of relatively immediate factors for direct effects on caregiver burden. Indirect effects operated through T-1 burden.