ORCID ID
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4464-4850
Date Awarded
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Department
Psychology
Advisor
Adrian J Bravo
Committee Member
Danielle H Dallaire
Committee Member
Meghan E Quinn
Abstract
Background: While research has examined stressors and depression in family dementia caregivers, few studies have focused on the associations between time spent caregiving, Activities of Daily Living (ADL) dependency, role overload, and depressive symptoms. Present Study: The present study tested two mediation models: hours caregiving → role overload → depressive symptoms and ADL dependency → role overload → depressive symptoms. Methods: The study consisted of two samples, one using data from round 11 of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) and the other collected data using Academic Prolific. In the NHATS/NSOC sample, participants (n = 283) were majority female (70.32%) and white (63.25%) dementia caregivers within the U.S. recruited to participate in a survey on aspects of caregiving for a Medicare beneficiary aged 65 or older. In the Prolific sample, participants (n = 150; 51.33% female, 68% white), were recruited to complete an online survey that contained many of the same questionnaires as the NSOC survey. Results: Results indicated a significant indirect effect suggesting that greater hours spent caregiving were associated with more depressive symptoms via higher role overload in the NHATS/NSOC sample. Additionally, there were significant indirect effects suggesting that greater ADL dependency was associated with more depressive symptoms via higher role overload in both samples. While gender did not significantly moderate the pathways in these models, women did report significantly more hours caregiving in the past month and significantly greater role overload compared to men. Conclusions: These findings suggest that depressive symptoms manifest in family dementia caregivers via role overload and warrants further investigation for clinical application.
DOI
https://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-2c9e-g553
Rights
© The Author
Recommended Citation
McDonald, Claire, "Hours Spent Caregiving, Activities Of Daily Living, Caregiver Gender, Role Overload, And Depression Symptoms: An Examination Among Family Dementia Caregivers" (2024). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. William & Mary. Paper 1717521881.
https://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-2c9e-g553
