ASSOCIATIONS AMONG CAREGIVING DIFFICULTIES, BURDEN, AND REWARDS IN CAREGIVERS TO OLDER POST-REHABILITATION PATIENTS

The associations between self-reported rewards and difficulties of car egiving and burden were examined in a sample of 200 informal caregiver s to older post-rehabilitation patients. Sixteen percent (16%) of care givers reported that caregiving was physically difficult only, 15% rep orted emotional difficulties only, 11% reported social difficulties on ly, 17% reported multiple difficulties, and 40% had no difficulties. E ach type of difficulty (e.g., social, emotional, and physical) was sig nificantly associated with burden irt univariate and multiple linear r egression analyses, controlling for confounding characteristics. Careg ivers reporting multiple types of difficulty experienced higher levels of burden than caregivers who reported only one? type of difficulty. Caregivers who received more rewards from caregiving reported fewer di fficulties. Caregiving rewards had no independent effect on burden but modified the associations between social and emotional difficulties a nd burden. In summary, caregiving rewards and difficulties were not mu tually exclusive, and their relationship in turn affected burden.