Burden and quality of life of family caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease patients: the role of forgiveness as a coping strategy

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the variables that were associated, contributed and
moderated quality of life (QoL) and burden in family caregivers.
Methods: A total of 130 participants were evaluated using the following instruments: Depression,
Anxiety and Distress Scale; Index of Family Relations; Heartland Forgiveness Scale; Burden Interview
Scale; Short Form Health Survey.
Results: Being a younger caregiver, less distress, better family relationships and greater use of for giveness were associated with more QoL. Also, family caregivers who chosethe caregiving role, less
distress, better family relationships and greater use of forgiveness showed lower levels of burden.
Age, distress and forgiveness contributed to QoL. In turn, the choice to become a family caregiver,
distress, and forgiveness contributed to burden. Forgiveness played a moderating role in the relation ship between family relationships and burden.
Conclusion: Based on the results, there is a need to intervene in older family caregivers, particularly
those who did not choose to become a caregiver, who report greater distress, have worse family
relationships, and display less use of forgiveness, in order to decrease their burden and promote QoL.
This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre
(PSI/01662), School of Psychology, University of Minho, supported by
the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the
Portuguese State Budget (Ref.: UIDB/PSI/01662/2020).