Does emotional empathy moderate the association between caregiver burden and burnout among Arab family caregivers of older relatives?

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between caregiver's burden and three components of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and sense of personal accomplishment) among family caregivers, as well as the moderating effects of emotional empathy on these associations. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 300 informal caregivers caring for their elderly relatives in the Arab community in Israel, using face-to-face structured interviews in Arabic. Three hierarchical regressions were applied to examine the factors related to each of the burnout components. Additional bootstrapping with resampling strategies was used to test the moderation effects of emotional empathy. The results showed positive correlations between caregiver's burden and two burnout components, emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, but not with personal accomplishment. Greater emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation levels were related to higher emotional empathy. Perceived social support is linked negatively with emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation levels, and positively with personal accomplishment. In addition, emotional empathy emerged as a moderator in the associations between caregiver burden and two components of burnout: emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Interventions for familial caregivers should aim to heighten social support and to educate caregivers on effectively regulating their emotional empathy to reduce caregiver's burden and burnout.