Stress and family functioning among caregivers of persons with Parkinson'sdisease

This study investigated components of caregiving that cause distress among Parkinson's caregivers and explored relationships between stress and family functioning. Fifty caregivers completed two self-report measures designed to assess caregiver stress and characteristics of the family environment. D ifferences in terms of family environment were found between caregivers who reported high and low stress. Certain aspects of caregiving were reported to be more distressing than others, and demographic characteristics were re lated to family functioning. Duration of the caregiving was not related to stress and there were no differences in family environment based on duratio n. These results have implications for clinical practice and the developmen t of interventions for Parkinson's caregivers. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Lt d. All rights reserved.