Spirituality and Caregiver Burden of People with Intellectual Disabilities: an Empirical Study

In recent years, interest in topics related to disabilities has grown. However, little attention has been devoted to people who constantly care for family members with an intellectual disability (ID). Thus, this study evaluated the relationship between the caregiver burden of people with intellectual disabilities and spirituality. The applied method was quantitative, exploratory, descriptive, and cross-sectional. The instruments used to collect data were a sociodemographic questionnaire, including questions extracted from the WHOQOL-100 (spiritual domain), and the following scales: Centrality of Religiosity; Brief Spiritual Religious Coping; Religious and Spiritual Struggles; Zarit Burden Interview and Satisfaction with Life Scale. One hundred twenty-nine people participated in the study. The sample was categorized as “highly religious” (57.3%), and 61.24% had an overload classified between moderate (36.43%) and severe (24.81%). The use of positive spiritual/religious coping methods was considered medium ( M = 3.44), and religious and spiritual struggles were low ( M = 1.71). Results show that those who considered themselves “spiritual and religious” highly use positive spiritual religious coping and score light burden and more life satisfaction. Such results indicate the importance of being attentive to the role of this dimension when planning emotional, psychological, and existential/spiritual support assistance. Public policies should consider the spiritual and religious dimension of those exclusively caring for people with intellectual disabilities. Studies focusing on how spiritual care can be provided to this population should be intensified.