title: Effects of home, outside leisure, social, and peer activity on psychological health among Japanese family caregivers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous research has indicated that informal caregivers' personal activities are disrupted by their caregiving role, leading to psychological stress and lower life satisfaction. However, the extent to which engagement in personal activities affects caregivers' psychological health remains unclear. This study examines the relationship between different types and frequencies of activities and both positive and negative parameters of the psychological health of caregivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A mail survey was conducted with 727 family caregivers of older persons using adult day-care services in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Perceived caregiver burden, care satisfaction, life satisfaction, and depression were used as psychological health outcomes. Engagement in home, outside leisure, social, and peer activities, as well as caregiver and care-recipient characteristics and caregiving situations, were assessed using a multivariate regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Engagement in home activities was related to lower scores on burden and depression and greater care satisfaction after controlling for care needs and caregiver characteristics, and social and peer activities were associated with greater life satisfaction. More frequent engagement was also associated with better psychological health, but a moderate involvement in home activities was most strongly associated with better care satisfaction. The amount of outside leisure activity was not significantly related to any of the outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that activity type and frequency are associated with caregivers' psychological health, extending previous findings and providing practical implications for the support of family caregivers through programs to improve their participation in specific types of activities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Gerontology, School of Health Sciences and Nursing, the University of Tokyo, Japan. t-wakui@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wakui
authors.forename: Tami
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Emily M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Agree
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010379:Peer Group; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012944:Social Support