Spouses often take on the role of caregiver after a stroke, which has implications for the quality of the marital relationship. From the perspective of the spouse/caregiver, the relationship between the burden associated with providing care and the quality of the marital relationship was investigated. In a first study, the Motivation to Help Scale was translated and adapted for the Portuguese population. A second study explored the mediation of dyadic adjustment, communication and personal validation and the moderation of motivation to help in the relationship between the burden associated with providing care and the quality of the marital relationship, in a Portuguese sample of 114 spouses/caregivers. The following measures were applied: Motivation to Help Scale; General Basic Needs Satisfaction Scale; Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale; Informal Caregiver Burden Assessment Questionnaire; Dyadic Adjustment Scale; Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships Scale. There was a significant association between burden and relationship quality mediated by personal validation and communication and moderated by motivation to help. The positive and significant association between personal validation and relationship quality was found to be stronger at higher levels of motivation to help. In turn, the negative and significant association between communication and relationship quality was found to be stronger at reduced levels of motivation to help. It was also found that less communication within the couple and high levels of personal validation were associated with a better quality of the marital relationship.

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Informal caregiver,stroke,couples