Balanced reciprocity is useful for early prevention and early intervention of subjective burden and must be included in nursing care plans for caregivers. Cultural factors support the comprehension of the caregiving process.

A risk profile could be proposed for subjective burden in primary family caregivers. Individuals who are at risk are characterized as young, offspring who live with the care recipient, care for a care recipient with behavioral problems, are unsatisfied with the social support received, and have a low balanced reciprocity.

These findings support the following recommendations regarding nursing interventions: (a) nurses should take into account specific cultural patterns in caregiving to improve their understanding concerning the relationships between gender and intensity of care, and (b) gender should be taken into account in interventions that are tailored toward addressing subjective burden.