Hidden morbidity in cancer: spouse caregivers

This study assesses psychological distress among advanced cancer patients and their spouse caregivers, while examining the relative contribution of caregiving burden and relational variables (attachment orientation and marital satisfaction) to depressive symptoms in the spouse caregivers.

A total of 101 patients with advanced GI or lung cancer and their spouse caregivers were recruited for the study. Measures included Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Caregiving Burden scale, Experiences in Close Relationships scale, and ENRICH Marital Satisfaction scale.

A total of 38.9% of the caregivers reported significant symptoms of depression (BDI-II > or = 15) compared with 23.0% of their ill spouses (P < .0001). In a hierarchical regression predicting caregiver's depression, spouse caregiver's age and patient's cancer site were entered in the first step, objective caregiving burden was entered in the second step, subjective caregiving burden was entered in the third step, caregiver's attachment scores were entered in the fourth step, and caregiver's marital satisfaction score was entered in the fifth step. The final model accounted for 37% of the variance of caregiver depression, with subjective caregiving burden (beta = .38; P < .01), caregiver's anxious attachment (beta = .21; P < .05), caregiver's avoidant attachment (beta = .20; P < .05), and caregiver's marital satisfaction (beta = -.18; P < .05) making significant contributions to the model.

Spouse caregivers of patients with advanced cancer are a high-risk population for depression. Subjective caregiving burden and relational variables, such as caregivers' attachment orientations and marital dissatisfaction, are important predictors of caregiver depression.