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The Gerontologist Advance Access published online on July 2, 2009
The Gerontologist, doi:10.1093/geront/gnp099
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Caregiver Mental Health and Potentially Harmful Caregiving Behavior: The Central Role of Caregiver Anger

Gordon MacNeil, PhD1,2,3, Jordan I. Kosberg, PhD2,3, Daniel W. Durkin, MSW2,3, W. Keith Dooley, PhD4, Jamie DeCoster, PhD3,5 and Gail M. Williamson, PhD6

2 School of Social Work
3 Center for Mental Health and Aging, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
4 Department of Psychology, Murray State University, Kentucky
5 Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
6 Department of Psychology, The University of Georgia, Athens

1 Address correspondence to Gordon MacNeil, PhD, School of Social Work, The University of Alabama, Box 870314, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0314. E-mail: gmacneil{at}sw.ua.edu


  Abstract

Purpose: Caregivers feeling stress and experiencing mental health problems can be at risk for engaging in abusive acts against elderly care recipients. Potentially harmful behavior (PHB) was used as a measure of caregivers’ engagement in, or fear of engagement in, behavior that places dependent care recipients at risk of physical and/or psychological maltreatment and may be seen as an antecedent of, or a proxy for, identifiably abusive behavior. The study examined the ability of anger to mediate and moderate the relations of depression, resentment, and anxiety with PBH. Design and Methods: Data are from the first wave of the second Family Relationships in Late Life study of caregivers of community-dwelling elderly care recipients with whom they coreside. Caregivers (N = 417) completed face-to-face interviews. Results: Anger was found to mediate the relation between anxiety and PHB. Anger both mediates and moderates the relations of both depression and resentment with PHB in a dynamic way such that the mediating effect of anger increases substantially with increased scores on both depression and resentment. Implications: Identifying anger levels among caregivers who report symptoms of depression is warranted. Reducing depression in caregivers who report high levels of anger may result in reductions of PHB. Screening for resentment is warranted, as the relation between resentment and anger is similar to that between depression and anger.

Keywords: Informal caregiving, Risk factors, Caregiving dyads, Depression, Resentment, Anxiety, Potentially harmful behavior

Received December 15, 2008; Accepted April 21, 2009

Decision Editor: William McAuley, PhD


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