Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Psychological Distress Of Spousal Caregivers Of Older Adults: The Moderating Role Of Marital Quality, Avalon White

Theses and Dissertations

Caregiving, specifically caregiver burden, is commonly related to decreased psychological well-being. Conversely, marital quality is positively related to psychological well-being, though existing literature presents mixed findings as to whether or not a gender difference exists in this relationship. The current study examined the relationship between objective and subjective spousal caregiver burden and psychological distress with marital quality as a moderator. Gender differences in this relationship were also explored. 1,066 spousal caregivers from the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) were used to estimate cross-sectional moderation models and plot significant interactions in Mplus. Results indicated a significant positive relationship between subjective caregiver …