The Impact of Caregiving Burden on Caregivers' Anxiety About Aging

This study examined the relationship between caregiving burden and the caregivers' anxiety about their own aging. Other related sociodemographic, social, and social support factors were also examined. The 894 respondents in this research were identified from the mailing lists of 50 support groups for caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease from 16 states. The data were collected from mailed, self-report questionnaires. Only caregiver burden, relationship to care receiver, and satisfaction with support were statistically significant in their association with anxiety about aging. When these variables were placed in a step-wise regression analysis, however, only caregiver burden had a significant influence on anxiety about aging (Beta = .32) explaining 11% of the variance. Caregivers who experienced high levels of burden were likely to have the most anxiety about: their own aging. Also, caregiver burden was even more strongly associated with anxiety about aging after caregivers placed their loved ones in nursing facilities. Long-term implications of these findings are discussed.