Objective: Several studies addressed the psychological and physical consequences of caregiving. Literature suggests that the majority of caregivers would benefit from a psychological support. Despite this evidence, lots of caregivers are reluctant in seeking psychological help. The aim of the present study is to identify the sociodemographic characteristics and the psychological motivations of caregivers who request a support, in terms of gender, age, occupation, type of recipient pathology, perceived burden and experienced emotions.
Method: Two hundred ninety-three caregivers, 70.4% females, aged between 20 and 80 years, were interviewed with a Questionnaire for Caregiver and the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI).
Results: Findings show that factors associated with caregivers help-seeking are not the objective ones (time spent in care, age, occupation), with the exeption for gender. The reasons are rather traceable in the type of pathology (physical vs. mental), the level of burden and the negative affects experienced.
Conclusions: Focusing on the demand analysis could contribute in the clinical practice to better specify the objectives of the psychological and psychotherapeutic interventions.
Keywords: caregiver; motivation; psychological support.
© 2019 Giovanni Fioriti Editore s.r.l.