title: Association of life events and psychological distress in family caregivers of dementia patients.
abstract: Relationships between life events and psychological distress were investigated for 197 dementia caregivers and 218 non-caregivers. Participants indicated which events on the Louisville Older Persons Events Scale they had experienced over the past six months. Life events were then classified as associated or unassociated with care-giving using differences in incidence rates between caregivers and non-caregivers. Primary care-giving stressors and associated life events were most predictive of psychological distress among caregivers. Among non-caregivers, unassociated negative life events were the strongest predictors of depression and life satisfaction. Implications for the assessment of life events and caregiver interventions are discussed.
authors.affiliation: The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham 35294-0022, USA.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: McCarty
authors.forename: O J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Clay
authors.forename: V G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Wadley
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Goode
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Haley
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*