Caregivers of people with cancer often experience burden (perceived emotional, social, physical, financial and/or spiritual strain) as a result of providing care. Understanding and addressing factors that reduce caregiver burden has the potential to improve caregiver health and wellbeing, as well as to improve health outcomes for patients. Perceived social support is positively associated with caregiver psychological outcomes, yet little research examines whether social connectedness impacts caregiver psychological health outcomes, and, if so, how. Understanding factors that moderate the relationship between caregiver burden and psychological wellbeing would enable development of effective interventions to assist caregivers in reducing depression and anxiety symptoms as they provide care to a family member or friend.
Aims
The present study tested whether social connectedness moderated the association between caregiver burden and depression and anxiety in cancer caregivers.
Methods
The cross-sectional survey study included 189 cancer caregivers (mean age=36.19 years, SD=11.78; 80.4% female; 34.4% lived with the care recipient; planned accrual target=254) recruited through an online market research panel. Participants completed an online survey that measured caregiver burden, social connectedness, and depression and anxiety. Moderation analysis examined the effect of social connectedness on the relationship between caregiver burden and depression and anxiety.
Results
After controlling for significant demographic and caregiver characteristics, the moderation analysis found that as perceived social connectedness increased, the relationship between caregiver burden and depression decreased (β=-.007, se=.004, 95% CI:-.014, .000, p=.05). Social connectedness did not moderate the relationship between caregiver burden and anxiety.
Conclusions
The findings provide insights into the management of depression in cancer caregivers. Social connectedness appears to protect from the negative impacts of caregiving, providing caregivers with increased psychological skills to manage caregiving burden, resulting in lower depression. Further research to understand strategies to improve caregiver perceived sense of connectedness with others to improve wellbeing is warranted.