The Association Between Caregiving Burden, the Caregiving Relationship, and Caregiver Health

PURPOSE: To determine the mediating effects of the quality of family caregivers' relationships with their older adult care recipients on the association between caregiver burden and caregivers' mental health and perceived general health. METHOD: Participants included 2,431 family/informal caregivers from the 2022 National Study of Caregiving. Mediator path analysis models adjusting for caregivers' age, sex, and race/ethnicity were used to test the direct and indirect effects of caregiver burden on mental health and perceived general health via the caregiving relationship. RESULTS: Quality of the caregiving relationship partially mediated the association between caregiver burden and mental health, and also partially mediated the association between caregiver burden and perceived general health. CONCLUSION: Caregiver burden and quality of the caregiving relationship are influential factors in caregiver health. Strategies addressing caregiver burden and the caregiving relationship simultaneously could yield potential benefits. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, xx(xx), xx-xx.]