Relationships between Caregivers’ Psychosocial Well-being, Caregivers’ Characteristics, and Perceived Changed Behavior of Veterans with TBI

Research Objectives(1) To examine the extent to which the caregiver's perception of the changed behaviors (e.g., inattention, impulsivity, interpersonal difficulties, apathy, somatic difficulties, unawareness of problems, communication problems, and emotional adjustment) experienced by veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are related to caregivers' psychosocial well-being (e.g., psychological spirituality, family happiness, depression, anxiety, and perceived stress). (2) To identify the relationships among caregiver characteristics (e.g., age, education level, annual income, employment status, and race), caregiving situation (e.g., length of caregiving), and caregivers' psychosocial well-being.DesignA cross-sectional survey study. We used descriptive statistics and multiple regression.SettingDepartment of Veterans Affairs (VA), and a polytrauma outpatient clinic of a midwestern VA hospital.ParticipantsForty female spouse/partner caregivers of veterans with TBI volunteered to participate in a national survey.InterventionsNot applicable.Main Outcome MeasuresThe psychological spiritual subscale and the family happiness subscale of the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depressive Symptoms Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, and Key Behaviors Change Inventory.ResultsFindings demonstrate that caregivers who reported less changed behaviors in the partners with TBI reported higher levels of psychosocial well-being. Among eight evaluated behaviors changed due to TBI, interpersonal difficulties and unawareness of problems were related to all assessed psychosocial well-being of caregivers. Based on regression results, older age of the caregiver reduced the impact of TBI-related changed behaviors on caregivers' depression, anxiety, and perceived stress, while the self-identified race as White was related to increased anxiety. The effect size of the regression models (R squared) are 19.9% - 45.2%, moderate to large.ConclusionsMore research is needed to examine the associations among caregiver well-being and veterans with TBI-related changed behaviors in order to develop tailored interventions to better support veterans and their family members, especially younger caregivers who may be particularly vulnerable to the emotional and mental health consequences of caregiving.Author(s) DisclosuresWe have no known conflict of interest to disclose.