Relationships Between Care Recipients’ Psychological Symptoms and Family Caregivers’ Depressive States

This cross-sectional study aims to clarify the relationship between the number of behavioral and psychological symptoms in long-term care recipients and family caregivers’ depressive states. Participants were 38 family caregivers who had provided care for their relatives for 6 years or more; they were recruited from in-home care settings in Aichi, Gifu, and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. Participants answered a self-administered questionnaire assessing their depressive state using the Japanese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression Scale (CES-D). They also answered questions inquiring about behavioral and psychological symptoms of care recipients, including resistance to care, irritability, and feelings of persecution. Using CES-D scores, 11 participants were categorized as depressed and 27 as non-depressed. Depressive symptoms were significantly greater in those with more behavioral and psychological symptoms, following adjustment for confounding factors. The odds ratio of being in a depressive state was 9.43 higher for those with more than 4 behavioral and psychological symptoms compared to those with none, showing a distinct threshold for the influence of behavioral and psychological symptoms on depressive state. Knowing the number of behavioral and psychological symptoms of care recipients may help quickly identify depressed caregivers and alleviate depressive symptoms.