INFORMACIONES PSIQUIÁTRICAS 247

32 Informaciones Psiquiátricas 2022 - n.º 247 Social support perceived by the main caregiver Perceived social support measured using the Duke-UNC-11 questionnaire (25) shows an average value for total support (37.6±9.3), which breaks down to 16.8±4.3 for the affective component and 20.8±5.9 for the confidential component. Sixty-four point seven percent of caregivers perceived the overall support they received as normal but 33% of caregivers considered it to be low. Twenty-three point four percent of the variance in total perceived social support is explained directly by the caregiver's level of education and perceived positive impact to the family-patient interaction and inversely by concerns about the patient, help avai- lable to the caregiver and impact on the caregiver's health (Table 2). Discussion The role of the family in patient care is fundamental in most cultures and countries. The age of the patient and caregiver, the predominance of males as patients and fe- males as caregivers, the level of education, marital status and other characteristics shown in the results section are similar to the majority of studies that assess the le- vel of burden of caregivers of patients with severe mental disorders (9, 11,27-31). The- re are differences with respect to samples from countries with a predominantly young population, where patients and caregivers are younger and are separated by less of an age difference, the gender distribution of patients is more balanced and they have less formal education (11, 12, 17, 27, 28, 32-35). Data regarding the marital status of the caregiver, who is generally married or in a stable relationship, and the type of rela- tionship he/she has with the patient, ge- nerally being the mother or father (62.5%), followed by the spouse or partner (22.8%) and siblings (9.4%), are similar to those of most studies. The key role of the wife, mother, daughter or sister as primary caregiver is transversal in all samples except in the Eritrea study (34), where men are reported more often as the primary caregiver; it should be noted, however, that the definition of "primary ca- regiver" in Eritrea takes more into account responsibility for care than the practical execution of tasks. There are no differences between the le- vel of education of patients and caregivers, except in cases where no certificate is held, which apply to a higher percentage of care- givers (10.7% as opposed to 3.1%); this is consistent with Catalonian population data and intergenerational differences (36). The predominance among users of people who are single (52.7%) is higher than among the population of Catalonia as a whole (33%), while the predominance among caregivers (55.8%) of people who are married or in a stable relationship mirrors statistics for the Catalonian population in general (36). Most patients and caregivers (79.9%) live together in the same home, and the avera- ge time spent together is 23.8±8.04 hours per week, which is similar to a sample from Italy (30) but much lower than Gater’s qua- litative study (37) for the same mode of co- habitation. People with greater dysfunction and disa- bility generate a higher caregiving burden (1-2, 38-39) and this is true for dementia or intellectual disability, but should also be true for severe mental disorders, even though the tasks and emotions that explain Emilio Rojo / María Jesús San Pío / Gemma Marcet / Francisco José Eiroa-Orosa / Josep Rojo