Caregiver burden in spouses of National Guard/Reserve service members deployed during Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom

Spouses of combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder have elevated psychological distress, some of which has been explained by increased caregiver burden. However, there is very little knowledge regarding intraindividual characteristics of these spouses that may be related to their burden. The current study examined caregiver burden in a sample of 102 spouses of reserve component troops deployed during Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom. Despite similar patterns of associations with spousal traits, factor analyses revealed that items related to burden and distress each loaded onto distinct factors, suggesting that they measure unique experiences. Burden did, however, fully mediate the relation between service members' distress and spouses' distress. Levels of burden were directly related to spouses' neuroticism and emotionfocused coping, and marginally related to lower levels of self-efficacy and perceived support from partners, although none of these factors were significant in a regression of burden that included service members' distress. Finally, problem-focused coping moderated the relation between service members' distress and spouses' burden, with the association weakening as spouses endorsed higher amounts of these coping processes. These results suggest that spouses' burden is primarily related to the degree of distress in service members, but the promotion of adaptive coping styles in spouses may help mitigate this link.