Caregiver burden among adults caring for their Holocaust-survivor parents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Int Psychogeriatr
; 33(12): 1327-1332, 2021 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1447273
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to examine the caregiver burden among offspring of Holocaust survivors (OHS) caring for their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, hypothesizing that caregivers whose parents suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) would report an increased burden. The sample consisted of 109 caregivers with older adult care recipient parents (average caregivers' age = 57.67, SD = 8.49). Caregivers were divided into three groups 20 OHS who reported that at least one care recipient had PTSD, 60 OHS who reported that their care recipients did not have PTSD, and 29 comparison caregivers (whose care recipients did not undergo the Holocaust). Caregivers completed questionnaires about SARS-CoV-2 exposure, COVID-19 concerns, helping their care recipients, their experiences of caregiver burden, and perceived changes to their caregiver burden during the pandemic. The caregivers also reported PTSD symptoms-in themselves as well as in their care recipients. Relative to comparisons, OHS with parental PTSD reported higher caregiver burden in four aspects time-dependent burden, developmental burden, physical burden, and social burden. Furthermore, OHS reported a greater perceived increase in caregiver burden during the pandemic than the comparisons. The study findings illuminate the difficulties OHS caregivers, especially those whose care recipients have PTSD, face during the COVID-19 pandemic. This group of caregivers is at risk of experiencing more distress and may need help and support. Further research is needed to determine whether people taking care of their posttraumatic parents following other massive traumatic events also feel a heavier caregiver burden-both in general and specifically during the current pandemic.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Holocaust
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Int Psychogeriatr
Journal subject:
Geriatrics
/
Psychiatry
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S1041610221001125
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