Objective

To analyze the relationship between the sense of coherence and subjective overload, anxiety and depression in caregivers of dependent elderly relatives.

Method

Cross-sectional study in an area of the province of Jaén (Andalusia, Spain) with a probabilistic sample of 132 caregivers of dependent elderly. Main measures: sense of coherence (Life Orientation Questionnaire), subjective burden (Caregiver Strain Index), anxiety and depression (Goldberg Scale), objective burden (Dedication to Care Scale), sex and kinship. Main analyses: bivariate analysis using the Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate analysis using multiple linear regression.

Results

Most of the caregivers studied were women (86.4%), daughter or son of the care recipient (74.2%) and shared home with the latter (69.7%). When controlling for objective burden, sex and kinship, we found that the sense of coherence was inversely related to subjective burden (β = −0.46; p <0.001), anxiety (β = −0.57; p = 0.001) and depression (β = −0.66; p <0.001).

Conclusions

The sense of coherence might be an important protective factor of subjective burden, anxiety and depression in caregivers of dependent elderly relatives.

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