Background and purpose: Increasing spread of dementia is one the consequences of aging. Due to the nature of the disease and dependence of involved patients, their caregivers might face mental health problems. Hence, evaluating family functioning can be a suitable tool for predicting family’s mental health. This research aimed at investigating the level of depression in caregivers and their relationship with family function.
Materials and methods: In this correlational study, 150 family caregivers of the elderly suffering from dementia were recruited. They were selected from those attending the Iran Alzheimer's Association who met the study inclusion criteria, by sampling in 2015-2016. Depression in caregivers and their family function was measured through the Beck Depression Inventory II and family functioning McMaster. Data was analyzed using Pearson Correlation Coefficient, Analysis of Variance and Stepwise Multiple Linear Regression.
Results: In current study about 22%, 21.3%, and 14.7% of the family caregivers had mild, moderate, and severe depression, respectively. Family function was poor in all aspects except for problem solving. Also, there was a significant negative relationship between all subscales of family functioning and depression (P< 0.001). Results showed that Rools, behavior control, emotional support, and economic and health situation can predict depression variance of these family caregivers.
Conclusion: According to the prevalence of depression syndrome in caregivers of patients with dementia and their relation to family functioning with depression, evaluating the dimensions of family functioning as one of the important indicators of Family Therapy and Education can improve such caregivers’ health.