CAREGIVER BURDEN AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING OF OLDER SPOUSAL CAREGIVERS IN HONG KONG

With smaller family size, longer lifespan, and confined living conditions, informal caregiving for older adults in Hong Kong has become the main responsibility of the spouse. Their psychological wellbeing of spousal caregivers has become a major concern as they may experience immense burden from undertaking the caregiving roles while suffering from age-related declines. To examine whether psychological wellbeing differs by caregiver burden and age, 125 spousal caregivers aged 55 and over were recruited from 13 caregiver resource centers in Hong Kong. Participants responded to a structured questionnaire on multiple dimensions of psychological wellbeing. Of the respondents, 22.9% reported high levels of strain and 9.9% reported high levels of depression. Results from t-tests revealed that caregivers who perceive low levels of strain are more likely to report lower caregiving distress, older in age, higher general mental health, lower depressive symptoms, higher subjective wellbeing, higher life satisfaction, and higher purpose in life. Old-old caregivers are more likely to report lower caregiving distress, lower depressive symptoms, and higher subjective well-being than young-old caregivers. Findings are discussed in relation to the transactional model of stress and coping, selective optimization compensation theory and socio-cultural context in Hong Kong, and its practice implications.