Question: What is known about depression in caregivers of brain tumor patients?

Context:
Data suggest that patients with primary or metastatic brain tumours often have a high symptom burden and unmet needs for palliative care, and symptoms are hard to diagnose; patients suffer often and early from cognitive impairment but are rarely appropriately prepared concerning end-of-life wishes. This reflects on their caregivers' burden as well
Reports of caregiver depressive symptoms and anxiety were lower when paired with higher reports of spirituality.
Fifty-nine percent did not receive any financial aid for home care, 33% had increased risk for psychosomatic problems, 45% had anxiety, and 33% increased depression levels. The caregiver's quality of life was most strongly affected by the burden of care (p < .001) and the patient's mental state (p < .03).
Depressive symptoms are common in cancer patients and their family caregivers (FCs). 
The psychological burden induced by brain tumor is profound both for the sick person and for their own family. This particular tumor not only impacts patients' quality of life, but also reduces seriously the caregivers' quality of life. 
Most caregivers experienced more depressive and anxiety symptoms, as compared with patients. 
Therefore, it is necessary to monitor and treat, if necessary, caregivers' anxious or depressive symptomatology that impacts their quality of life, making them more helpless, frustrated and less able to handle the situation of disease and caregiving situation. 
Group-based trajectory modeling identified high-decreasing (51.1 % of caregivers) and consistently low (48.9 %) depressive symptom trajectories, high-decreasing (75.5 %) and low-decreasing (24.5 %) anxiety trajectories, and high (37.5 %), moderate (40.9 %), and low-decreasing (21.6 %) caregiver burden trajectories. High depressive symptoms were associated with high trajectories for both anxiety and burden, lower caregivers age, income, and social support, and lower care recipient functioning.
Studies suggest rates of depression and anxiety up to 48% in patients and up to 40% in caregivers, with many unmet needs and dissatisfaction with health care provider communication and information. 
Caregivers try to react to the illness of their relatives by mobilizing their physical reaction and growing their self-esteem, but they live with a clinically significant impairment of their quality of life, and experience a deep level of anxiety and depression.
 There was a trend for economic hardship to predict CG depressive symptoms at 4 months (P = 0.09), but not at diagnosis.
Although previous research has documented the stress, depression, anxiety, and burden associated with caregiving, when these conditions occur is not known.
Among patients, 30% reported anxious mood and 17% depressed mood on the HADS, while corresponding numbers for carers were 40% and 10%, respectively. 
Among patients and carers, 30% and 40%, respectively, reported anxious moods and 17% and 10%, respectively, reported depressed moods on the HADS. Significant correlations were observed between the FACT-G and HADS subscales, particularly emotional well-being and anxiety, as well as physical and functional well-being and depression, and between patients' and their carers' quality of life. 
Findings showed a link between care recipients' problem behaviors and caregivers' depressive symptoms, a relationship that has not been well established in oncology. 
Care recipients' neuropsychiatric status consistently affected caregivers' depressive symptoms and burden, and assisting with activities of daily living affected burden related to caregivers' schedules and health. 

Answer: Depression is common affecting up to 40% of caregivers of brain tumor patients. Depression is associated with poor quality of life of caregivers of brain tumor patients. Greater anxiety, patients’ emotional distress, economic hardship, lower caregivers’ age, lower income, less social support and lower patient functioning were associated with more caregivers’ depressive symptoms. Reports of caregiver depressive symptoms were lower when paired with higher reports of spirituality. It is important to monitor and treat caregiver's depression.