CORRELATES OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMATOLOGY AMONG ADULT DAUGHTER CAREGIVERS OF A PARENT WITH CANCER

BACKGROUND. As a consequence of advances and changes in the detection and treatment of cancer, increasing demands are being placed on famili al caregivers of elderly cancer patients. Understanding the factors th at place familial caregivers at risk of poor psychological outcomes an d threaten their ability to provide adequate care is important for mai ntaining chronically ill patients in the community. METHODS. Dyads com prised of 164 cancer outpatients (ages 60-90 years) and their adult ca regiving daughter completed structured telephone interviews. Hierarchi cal regression was used to determine the individual and cumulative eff ect of five domains of potential predictors on the daughters' depressi ve symptomatology (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [ CES-D]). RESULTS. The domains that were shown to be significantly pred ictive of a daughter's level of depressive symptomatology were daughte r sociodemographics, constraints on/facilitators of caregiving, and ca regiver burden. The domains of disease/patient characteristics and the daughter's appraisal of the caregiving situation were not found to be significant. The total model suggests that having a health-limiting c ondition, a greater sense of filial obligation, and greater caregiver burden were correlated with higher CES-D scores, whereas having gradua ted college, having other social roles, having favorable attitudes reg arding her caregiving experience, and providing care in a greater numb er of domains of care were correlated with lower scores. CONCLUSIONS. These findings demonstrate the importance of focusing on situational f actors that may function to constrain or facilitate caregiving when in vestigating caregiver depression. Cancer 1998;83:1652-63. (C) 1998 Ame rican Cancer Society.