When Elder Care Is Viewed as Child Care: Significance of Elders' Cognitive Impairment and Caregiver Burden

Family caregivers to frail parents often report that care of elderly parents is much like care of children. Predictors of such judgments regarding parent care were explored in a sample of adult caregiver-daughters (N = 426). Elders' cognitive impairment and perceived burden in caregiving were t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of geriatric psychiatry 1996, Vol.4 (2), p.121-130
Main Authors: Albert, Steven M., Brody, Elaine M.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Family caregivers to frail parents often report that care of elderly parents is much like care of children. Predictors of such judgments regarding parent care were explored in a sample of adult caregiver-daughters (N = 426). Elders' cognitive impairment and perceived burden in caregiving were the strongest predictors of this likening of elder care to child care. The first factor is a response to elders' incompetencies that force caregivers to assume a directive, parental role. The second factor may reflect criticism of parents; for example, highly burdened caregivers view parent care as child care even in the absence of elders' cognitive impairment. The evidence suggests that family caregivers think of parent care as child care when parents fail to demonstrate competencies associated with adulthood. Thus, “role violation,” and not “role-reversal,” seems to underlie this judgment.
ISSN:1064-7481
1545-7214
DOI:10.1097/00019442-199621420-00004