The purpose of this secondary analysis was to glean from prospective data whether those caring for elderly family members recently diagnosed with cancer who ultimately died reported different caregiver depressive symptomatology and burden than caregivers of those who survived. Findings from interviews with 618 caregivers revealed that caregiver depressive symptomatology differed based on family members' survival status, and spousal caregivers experienced greater burden when a family member was near death than did non-spousal caregivers.
