A comparison of the impact of institutionalization on spouse and nonspouse caregivers.

We report on a study of 106 spouse and nonspouse primary caregivers of cognitively impaired older people. Half of these caregivers cared for someone in a community setting, half cared for someone in an institution (a nursing home or hospital). The study used the multidimensional Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) to measure the burden that these caregivers felt. A 2 x 2 multivariate analysis of variance found an effect of the interaction of relationship and living arrangement on two CBI subscales: Time Dependence Burden and Developmental Burden. Spouses showed a significantly greater difference in Time Dependence Burden scores than did nonspouses in both living arrangement groups, and nonspouses showed a significantly greater difference in Developmental Burden than did spouses in both groups. We conclude with a discussion of how programs can help different types of caregivers cope with feelings of burden.