CAREGIVER BURDEN IN PARTNERS OF VIETNAM-WAR VETERANS WITH POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER

Caregiver burden in 58 partners of Vietnam War veterans with posttraum atic stress disorder (PTSD) was examined. The relationship between pat ient PTSD severity and caregiver er burden, as well as the effect of s everal caregiver and patient variables on caregiver psychological stat us, was evaluated twice, an average of 8 months apart. Patient symptom severity was positively correlated with caregiver burden. Time 1 cros s-sectional analysis indicated that greater caregiver burden was assoc iated with greater caregiver psychological distress, dysphoria, and an xiety. Patient symptom severity also contributed to caregiver psycholo gical distress; financial stress contributed to caregiver dysphoria an d trait anxiety. Time 2 cross-sectional analyses essentially replicate d the Time 1 findings. A third set of analyses examining change scores indicated that changes in caregiver burden for individuals in the sam ple positively predicted individual changes in caregiver psychological distress, dysphoria, and state anxiety.