title: Gender differences in caregiver burden and its determinants in family members of terminally ill cancer patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Female family caregivers consistently report higher levels of stress and burden compared to male caregivers. Explanations for the apparently higher psychological vulnerability of female caregivers are largely missing to date. This study assesses the correlates and determinants of caregiver burden in family caregivers of advanced cancer patients with a specific focus on gender differences.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred and eight self-identified main informal caregivers of advanced cancer patients were cross-sectionally assessed using structured questionnaires for caregiver burden and hypothesised determinants of burden, including sociodemographic characteristics, caring arrangements, support needs, hope and coping style. Gender differences and predictors of burden were assessed using t-tests, chi-squared tests and univariate linear regression. Significant univariate predictors were entered in an analysis of covariance separately for men and women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Burden was significantly higher in women. Hope was the most significant protective factor against burden in both genders, together with perceived fulfilment of support needs. Only in women emotion-oriented coping and being in employment while caring were significantly predictive of higher burden in the multivariate analysis. The model explained 36% of the variance in burden in men and 29% in women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychological support interventions for family caregivers should take gender-specific risk factors into account. Interventions focusing on keeping up hope while caring for a terminally ill family member may be a valuable addition to palliative services to improve support for family carers. Women may benefit from interventions that address adaptive coping and strategies to deal with the dual demands of employment and caring. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Division of Social Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schrank
authors.affiliation: Division of Palliative Care, Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ebert-Vogel
authors.affiliation: Division of Social Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amering
authors.affiliation: Division of Palliative Care, Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Eva K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Masel
authors.affiliation: Division of Palliative Care, Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neubauer
authors.affiliation: Division of Palliative Care, Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watzke
authors.affiliation: Section for Medical Statistics, Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zehetmayer
authors.affiliation: Division of Palliative Care, Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schur
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019452:Terminally Ill