3.3. Measurement of caregiver distress
Only one of the studies included had an explicit definition of distress
(Möller-Leimkühler, 2005), and the studies used a variety of overlapping
concepts and descriptions of caregiver experiences (see Table 2
for an overview). Across the 13 studies, 15 different measures of caregiver
distress or psychological well-being were employed. The number
of distress measures includedwithin each individual study ranged from
one to four and three studies used more than two different measures.
None of the studies included used measures of physical illness or visits
to the general practitioner as indicators of distress. Caregivers' distress
was the main variable of interest in six (50%) of the studies, while
three (25%) defined EE as the main focus. In the remaining studies it
was not made clear whether distress was to be considered as a dependent
or an independent variable.