A cross-sectional study of 76 family caregivers of older veterans with congestive heart failure utilized the McMaster model of family functioning to examine the impact of family functioning variables (problem solving, communication, roles, affective responsiveness, and affective involvement) on caregiver burden dimensions (relationship burden, objective burden, stress burden, and uplifts). Regression analyses indicated that the five dimensions of family functioning were significantly related (p less than 0.01) to relationship burden (R[superscript 2] = 0.27) and uplifts (R[superscript 2] = 0.29). More specifically, increased relationship burden was associated with problems in family roles, and increased uplifts was related to higher levels of affective responsiveness. (Contains 3 tables.)