Socio-Demographic Factors Linked to Psychological Well-Being in Dementia Caregivers

Background: Caregivers of individuals with cognitive impairment face heightened emotional and psychological burdens, yet the interaction between caregiver well-being, patient characteristics, and socio-demographic factors still requires investigation. This study aimed to examine the psychological well-being of family caregivers in an urban Romanian context, focusing on the role of depressive and anxiety symptoms, education, and care-recipient cognition function. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among family caregivers recruited from a neurology-psychiatry service in Bucharest. Caregivers completed Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scales, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the COVI Scale. Cognitive status of care recipients was obtained from medical records (Mini-Mental State Examination, MMSE). Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and separate linear regression models were performed for each well-being dimension. Results: Caregivers reported moderate to high well-being scores, with Environmental Mastery highest (M = 38.01, SD = 8.70) and Purpose in Life lowest (M = 33.14, SD = 6.72). Depression scores averaged 18.49 (SD = 6.55), indicating moderate depressive symptoms, and anxiety scores averaged 12.14 (SD = 2.23), consistent with severe anxiety. Cognitive impairment in care recipients was marked (MMSE M = 11.47, SD = 6.99). Bivariate analyses showed that lower MMSE scores were associated with higher caregiver anxiety (ρ = -0.287, p = 0.014). Regression models (R² = 0.08-0.25) indicated that higher education was positively associated with autonomy, personal growth, positive relations, and environmental mastery, whereas older age and female gender were linked to lower well-being in several domains. Depressive symptoms were unexpectedly associated with higher autonomy and self-acceptance. Conclusions: Caregiver psychological well-being was modestly associated with depressive symptoms, education, gender, and age, while care-recipient cognitive status showed only weak links to anxiety. Education emerged as a consistent protective factor, whereas female gender and older age were associated with lower well-being. Although the Bonferroni correction eliminated significance in separate models, a complementary multivariate multiple regression confirmed global effects of education, caregiver gender, and depression across well-being domains. These findings emphasize the need for systematic psychological support for caregivers and call for larger, longitudinal studies to clarify causal mechanisms and additional protective factors.