1. The Caregiver's Burden: Mental Health Factors in Undergraduate Caregivers of Loved Ones
Kelsey C. Bacharz & Leilani B. Goodmon, PhD Florida Southern College
Southeastern Psychological Association Annual Meeting 2016

2. Previous Research
Adult children caregivers often show more distress if they are female (Teixeira & Pereira, 2013)
Children under 18 were generally unconcerned with their financial situation (Torp, et al., 2013)
Social support has been found to be a partial mediator between psychological morbidity and caregiver burden (Teixeira & Pereira, 2013)
Young adult caregiver research is slowly growing in other countries

3. Research gap
According to several sources, year old caregivers make up 12-18% of the adult caregiving population
Extremely limited research on psychological effects of caring for a loved one as a young adult (18-24 years old)
Especially limited resources in the United States
(Levine et al. 2005)

4. Learning Objective
The ability to recognize the psychological effects that caring for a loved one has on a young adult as well as what factors contribute to psychological distress or insulate younger adult caregivers from the distress of caring for a chronically ill loved one.
Talk about how there is no previous research on the year old caregiver group and what this particular project hoped to accomplish

5. Important Definitions
Chronic illness
A long-lasting condition that can be controlled but not cured
Ex: Cancer, Alzheimer's Disease, Heart Disease, etc.
Young Adult
18 – 24 years old
Caregiver
According to the American Cancer Society
“Unpaid loved ones who give the [patient] physical and emotional care. Caregivers may be partners, family members, or close friends. Most often, they are not trained for the caregiver job.”
First, it is necessary to understand some basic terms before discussing the project

6. Methods

7. Procedure
Informed Consent
Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS)
Impact of Events Scale – Revised (IES-R)
Demographic Survey
Debrief & Dismiss
DASS Sample statements: “Any reminder brought back feelings about it”, “I was aware that I still had a lot of feelings about it, but I didn’t deal with them”, etc. IES-R Sample statements: “I just couldn’t seem to keep going”, “I found myself getting upset by quite trivial things”, etc.

8. Hypotheses
Participants in the caregiver group will be more likely to be at risk for PTSD (Teixeira & Pereira, 2013)
Participants in the caregiver group will be more stressed, anxious, and depressed (Teixeira & Pereira, 2013)
Caregivers may be more likely to be financially insecure (Torp, et al., 2013)
Hypotheses based off of previous research on adult caregivers

9. Participants Caregiver Status Male Female Total Caregivers* 2 15 17
Non-caregivers 4 16 20 6 31 37
*Caregivers were chosen by a pre-screening process

10. Results

11. Results: Impact of Events Scale
Significantly more likely to show avoidance behaviors

12. Risk of PTSD and Caregiver Status
Suppressed immune system functioning
Probable diagnosis for full PTSD
Shows some PTSD symptoms
Caregivers significantly more likely to have PTSD at the severe level

13. Results: DASS-21
p = .07
p = 0.84
p = 0.96
Almost significantly more likely for depression

14. IES-R Score Categories
IES-R Breakdown
IES-R Score Categories
0-24
Unlikely to exhibit PTSD symptoms
24-32
Most likely have partial PTSD
33-36
Probable diagnosis for full PTSD
37+
High enough to suppress immune system functioning
Caregivers are polarized at the either ends (either unlikely to have PTSD or at the severe level), non-caregivers are more evenly spread

15. Parent Status and PTSD
Caregivers all at severe level, regardless of category

16. Perceived Financial Security
Caregivers are less financially secure

17. Discussion

18. Potential Problems Did not pre-screen for mental illness
Small sample sizes for certain categories
Difficult to draw conclusions
Parental Status
Frequency
Married 8
Divorced 5
Mother Deceased 2
Father Deceased
Sooo many different aspects of caregiving that we are unable to be prove cause and effect

19. Potential Problems Cont.
Mercurio-Riley, D., Lee, G.K., Chronister, J., & Swigar, E.A. (2013). Psychosocial adjustment of spousal caregivers of patients with chronic pain: A model of risk and resistance factors. SAGE Open, 1-13.

20. The Next Step
A follow up project was completed to address the potential problems
“The Caregiver’s Burden: Psychological Distress in the Young Adult Caregiver”
Poster presented at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society Annual Meeting on March 5 in San Diego, California
Comparison between young adult caregivers and adult caregivers

21. Why Does This Matter?
Shows the psychological burden of being a caregiver
Could give professionals a better idea of how to help young caregivers
Specifically applies to college-aged students
There is clearly a difference between college student who have been caregivers and those who have not and that difference needs to be explored more.

22. References
Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion. (2014, May 9). Retrieved April 21, 2015, from
Levine, C., Hunt, G.G., Halper, D., Hart, A.Y., Lautz, J., & Gould, D.A. (2005). Young Adult Caregivers: A First Look at an Unstudied Population. American Journal of Public Health, 95 (11),
Lovibond P.F. & Lovibond S.H. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33(3),
Mercurio-Riley, D., Lee, G.K., Chronister, J., & Swigar, E.A. (2013). Psychosocial adjustment of spousal caregivers of patients with chronic pain: A model of risk and resistance factors. SAGE Open, 1-13.
Weiss D.S. & Marmar C.R. (1997). The Impact of Event Scale-Revised. In Assessing Psychological Trauma and PTSD: A Practitioner’s Handbook, Wilson JP, Keane TM (eds.). Guilford Press: York, 1997;  
Who are caregivers, and what do they do? (2014). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from

23. Kelsey Bacharz kbacharz@aol.com www.kbacharz.wix.com/eportfolio
Leilani Goodmon, PhD
Thank you! Questions?