[en] The present study aims to analyze the burden, the loneliness, the negative stereotypes about old people as well as the informal caregiver of dependent old people?s self-efficacy. It still aims to identify the best set of predictive variables for the burden variation and also to analyze if self-efficacy has a mediator effect on the caregiver?s burden. To do so, a questionnaire was built including the caregiver?s burden interview developed by Zarit in the 80?s; questions about the caregiver?s loneliness taken from the scale developed by Jong-Gierveld and Kamphuis (1984); the scale of negative stereotypes about old people built by Magalh?es (2008) and an adaptation of ?The Revised Scale for Caregiving Self ? Efficacy? developed by Steffen, et al (2002), which was applied through interviews to a sample of 232 informal caregivers of old people with physical and/or mental dependency, living in the district of Bragan?a. The results obtained allow us to conclude that, almost half of the caregivers show levels of intensive burden and that global burden and psychological stress increase with the caregiver?s age. We still concluded that there is a positive linear relation between loneliness and burden. Data also allow us to come to the conclusion that the stereotypes about old people are more prevalent in older, with lower qualifications caregivers and that the global of stereotypes has a positive, linear relation with the caregiver?s burden. As far as self-efficacy is concerned, it was concluded that the caregivers show low levels of self-efficacy in the domains of self-efficacy to get respite in the social net of friends and to control upsetting thoughts about care giving. It was also concluded that there is a negative linear relation between global self-efficacy and the caregiver?s burden. The multiple linear regression analysis allows us to conclude that loneliness is the best predictive variable for the global burden variation. With the Path analysis, it was found that loneliness has two indirect effects on burden mediated by the self-efficacy to get respite in the social net of friends and to control upsetting thoughts about care giving. Also that the stereotypes about biological decline have only indirect effects on the caregiver?s burden mediated by self-efficacy to respond to disruptive patient behaviors and self-efficacy to control upsetting thoughts about care giving (through self-efficacy to respond to disruptive patient behaviors).

[es] El presente estudio ha pretendido analizar la sobrecarga, soledad, estereotipos acerca de las personas mayores y la auto-eficacia del cuidador informal de mayores dependientes, identificar el mejor conjunto de variables predictivas de la variaci?n del valor global de la sobrecarga, y analizar si la autoeficacia posee un efecto mediador de la sobrecarga. Para tal, se elabor? un cuestionario incluyendo la entrevista de carga del cuidador desarrollada por Zarit, en los 80, cuestiones acerca de la soledad, retiradas de la escala elaborada por Jong-Gierveld y Kamphuis (1984), la escala de estereotipos negativos acerca de las personas mayores de Magalh?es (2008) y una adaptaci?n de la ?Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy? desarrollada por Steffen, et al (2002), y que se aplic? a trav?s de entrevistas a una muestra de 232 cuidadores informales de mayores con dependencia f?sica y/o mental, residentes en el distrito de Braganza. Los resultados obtenidos han permitido concluir que aproximadamente la mitad de los cuidadores presentaba niveles de sobrecarga intensa, demostr?ndose que la sobrecarga y el estr?s psicol?gico crecen con la edad del cuidador. A?n se concluy? la existencia de una relaci?n lineal positiva entre la soledad y la sobrecarga. Los datos permitieron concluir que los estereotipos acerca de las personas mayores son m?s prevalentes en los cuidadores con edades m?s avanzadas y con menos niveles de estudios y que el global de estereotipos presenta una relaci?n lineal positiva con el global de sobrecarga. En relaci?n a la autoeficacia se puede concluir que los cuidadores presentan bajos niveles en las dimensiones de autoeficacia para conseguir una pausa en la red social de los amigos y para controlar pensamientos negativos sobre el acto de cuidar. Se verific? a?n una relaci?n lineal negativa entre la autoeficacia global y la sobrecarga. El an?lisis de la regresi?n lineal m?ltiple ha permitido deducir que la soledad constituye el mejor predictor de la variaci?n global de la sobrecarga. Con el an?lisis de trayectorias se constat? que la soledad presenta dos efectos indirectos en la sobrecarga mediados a trav?s de la autoeficacia para obtener una pausa junto a sus amigos y de la autoeficacia para controlar pensamientos negativos sobre el acto de cuidar, y que la estereotipia de declinio biol?gico presenta solamente efectos indirectos en la sobrecarga, mediados por la autoeficacia para responder a comportamientos inadecuados de la persona a cargo y por la autoeficacia para controlar pensamientos negativos sobre el acto de cuidar (v?a la autoeficacia para responder a comportamientos inadecuados de la persona a cargo).