Adult Children’s Caregiver Burden and Depression: The Moderating Roles of Parent–Child Relationship Satisfaction and Feedback from Others

The issue of elderly care has generated great interest because today, most of us live in an aging society. It has been found
that caring for one’s elderly parents is a stressful experience that is related to negative outcomes. In addition, accompanied
with the decline in fertility may make adult children feel heavier caregiver’s burden. Therefore, the current study investigates
moderators that may help reduce the caregiver burden. Following the conservation of resources theory (COR), we hypothesized
that feedback from others and a good parent–child relationship serve as resources that may help the individual manage the
stress associated with caring for his or her elderly parents. To examine our hypotheses, we collected data from 502 adult
children who were primary caregivers for their elderly parents. All participants completed the Burden Assessment Scale (BAS),
the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Feedback from Others Scale, and the Parent–Child Relationship
Satisfaction Scale. Supporting our prediction, we found a positive correlation between the caregiver’s burden and the caregiver’s
levels of depression. Furthermore, both moderation effects were significant. Consistent with our hypotheses, the relationship
between caregiver burden and his or her level of depression was weaker when participants had high feedback from others or
had a better parent–child relationship. Our findings highlight the view that possessing more resources may help the individual
manage the stress associated with caring for elderly parents. Implications for issues related to elderly care are discussed.