Association of life events and psychological distress in family caregivers of dementia patients.
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.
Owen
J E
JE
The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham 35294-0022, USA.
Roth
D L
DL
Stevens
A B
AB
McCarty
H J
HJ
Clay
O J
OJ
Wadley
V G
VG
Goode
K T
KT
Haley
W E
WE
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*