ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN WORKPLACE STRESS AND CAREGIVER STRAIN IN FULL-TIME EMPLOYED CAREGIVERS

摘要

According to the 2015 AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving report, Caregiving in the U.S., 60% of family caregivers in the United States are involved in the dual roles of caregiving and working. It is important to determine whether workplace impacts, and factors such as workplace and other supports are predictors of overall emotional, physical, and financial caregiving strain. Guided by the caregiving stress process and role conflict theory, the current study used hierarchical regression analyses to determine whether caregiver reports of impacts of caregiving in the workplace were associated with caregiver physical, emotional, and financial strain after accounting for the primary stressors of ADL/IADL assistance and hours of care provided. We also examined both workplace and informal support as potential resources that might attenuate the effects of primary stressors and workplace impacts on emotional, physical, and financial caregiving strain. Participants included 436 employed caregivers of adults ages 50 and above from the 2015 AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving population-based study, Caregiving in the United States. Regression analyses showed that caregiver reports of higher negative workplace impacts of caregiving were associated with greater emotional and financial strain, even after controlling for primary caregiving stressors. Among other findings, caregivers who reported disclosing their caregiving duties to supervisors reported higher levels of emotional strain. Results suggest the importance of workplace strain in the stress process and suggest that some workplaces may be unsympathetic to the challenges of impaired caregivers.