A – 83 Depression and Caregiver Burden: The Mediating Role of Health Beliefs in a Multiethnic Cohort Study

Abstract Objective Caregivers of individuals with severe health conditions often experience elevated depression, negative health beliefs, and chronic stress. While these factors are well-documented individually, this study examines how caregivers’ health beliefs influence perceived burden, emphasizing the role of depression. Method Participants (N = 85; Mage = 61.2 years; Medu = 15.89 years; 83% male; 62.4% White, 16.5% Hispanic, 13.3% Black) were drawn from a community-based, multiethnic cohort. Participants completed the Multidimensional Health Perceptions Questionnaire (MHPQ), Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-22), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8). Correlations assessed associations between depression, healthcare beliefs, and caregiver burden. Additionally, parallel mediation regression analyses examined how health beliefs influenced the association of caregiver burden and depressive symptoms. Results Depression had a small association with social-emotional healthcare beliefs (r = .27, p = .01, b = .03, R2 = .07), trust in medicine (r = .29, p .05). In the complete mediation model, health beliefs did mediate the relationship between depression and caregiver burden (R2 = .41 p < .01). Conclusion Findings showed weak associations between depression symptoms and healthcare beliefs and no significant link between beliefs and caregiver burden. However, beliefs did mediate the depression–burden relationship, warranting further research on contextual influences.