OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE OVERLOAD AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF PORTUGUESE INFORMAL CAREGIVERS

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.5583412303111

• Palavras-chave: Informal Caregiver, Objective/Subjective Burden, Mental Health.

• Keywords: Informal Caregiver, Objective/Subjective Burden, Mental Health.

• Abstract:

  The 21st century is marked by population aging and as a consequence of this longevity there has been an increase in chronic and/or degenerative diseases typical of advanced ages, which may incapacitate those with them, leading to the need for long-term home care. In this scenario, the informal caregiver emerges, who will have the responsibility of caring for and getting involved in all activities that can guarantee comfort and well-being to the dependent family member. As the task of informal caregiving becomes more demanding, the possibility of caregivers manifesting symptoms of overload, whether objective and/or subjective, increases. There are several studies that point to the negative effects that the task of caring has on the mental health of informal caregivers. Therefore, the main objective of this article was to understand the relationships between objective/subjective overloads and psychopathological symptoms. To carry out this study, we used the Informal Caregiver Burden Assessment Questionnaire-QASCI (Portuguese version adapted from Martins, et. Al, 2003), and the Psychopathological Symptoms Inventory (BSI) (Portuguese version adapted by Canavarro, 2007). The analysis of the data presented is based on statistical inference carried out with the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) application version 20.0 for Windows. In conclusion, this study confirmed the existence of overload, as well as its influence on the mental health of the informal caregivers participating in this sample.