Rationale: Although caregiver burden is well described in chronic illness, few studies have examined burden in caregivers of survivors of critical illness. In existing studies, it is unclear whether the observed burden is a consequence of critical illness or preexisting patient illness. Objectives: To describe one-year, longitudinal outcomes of caregivers of patients who survived critical illness, and compare depression risk between caregivers of patients with and without pre-intensive care unit (ICU) functional dependency. Methods: Prospective, parallel, cohort study of survivors of prolonged (>48h) mechanical ventilation and their informal caregivers. Caregivers were divided into two cohorts based upon whether patients were functionally independent (n=99, 59%), or dependent (n=70, 41%) prior to admission. Functional dependency was defined as dependency in 1 activities of daily living (ADL) or 3 instrumental ADLs. Patient and caregiver outcomes were measured 2, 6, 12 months after mechanical ventilation initiation. Measurements and Main Results: We studied three caregiver outcomes: depression risk, lifestyle disruption, employment reduction. Most patients were male (59.8%), with mean (standard deviation[SD]) age 56.6 (19.0) years. Caregivers were mostly female (75.7%), with mean (SD) age 54.6 (14.7) years. Prevalence of caregiver depression risk was high at all time points (33.9%, 30.8%, 22.8%, p=0.83) and did not vary by patient pre-ICU functional status. Lifestyle disruption and employment reduction were also common and persistent. Conclusions: Depression symptoms, lifestyle disruption, and employment reduction were common among informal caregivers of critical illness survivors. Depression risk was high regardless of patient pre-ICU functional status.