Family members are the main support for caring for dependent older people. Caring for an older dependent relative can be a major source of stress for caregivers, as evidenced by much of our research (https://cuidsalud.com/portfolio/cuidados-familiares/). Although caring can be stressful, it can also have positive and rewarding outcomes for caregivers. These positive outcomes take the form of feelings of personal satisfaction and accomplishment, personal fulfilment and purpose in life, reciprocity in the relationship, and increased family cohesion and functionality.
Our team set out to analyze the relationship between care satisfaction and psychological distress by investigating the possible role of subjective overload in caregivers of dependent older relatives. To do this, we conducted a longitudinal study that allowed us to analyze the relationship between the variables of interest at two different points in time.
The results show that the caregiver’s subjective burden plays an important role between caregiver satisfaction and psychological distress. The subjective overload experienced by caregivers is a key mechanism linking caregiver satisfaction with psychological distress. We also found that satisfaction remained stable over time and that this satisfaction may have a protective effect on psychological distress. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at increasing satisfaction with caregiving and reducing caregivers’ subjective burden could prevent high levels of psychological distress over time.
The full report of the prospective longitudinal study of the effect of subjective burden between care satisfaction and psychological distress in family careers is published in: López-Martínez, C., Orgeta, V., Gutiérrez-Sánchez, B. and Del-Pino-Casado, R. (2025), Caregiving Satisfaction, Psychological Distress and Caregiver Burden in Family Caregivers of Dependent Older People: A longitudinal study. J Clin Nurs. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.17626
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