Impact of in-home behavioral management versus telephone support to reduce depressive symptoms and perceived stress in Chinese caregivers: results of a pilot study.
OBJECTIVE
Recent work has shown that Chinese Americans caring for a family member with dementia experience considerable psychological distress. However, few studies evaluate treatments for them. This study evaluated the efficacy of in-home intervention, based on cognitive behavior therapy principles, to relieve stress and depression in female Chinese American caregivers (CGs).


METHODS
Fifty-five CGs who met inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to a telephone support condition (TSC) or to an in-home behavioral management program (IHBMP) for 4 months. In the TSC, biweekly calls were made and relevant material was mailed. In the IHBMP, specific psychological skills were taught to deal with caregiving stress. CGs were assessed before and after treatment. Outcome measures evaluated overall perceived stress, caregiving-specific stress, and depressive symptoms.


RESULTS
CGs in IHBMP were less bothered by caregiving-specific stressors and had lower depression levels than CGs in TSC. There was no difference in overall stress. CGs with low baseline level of self-efficacy for obtaining respite benefited from IHBMP, but showed little improvement in the TSC. CGs with higher self-efficacy benefited from both treatments.


CONCLUSIONS
This intervention is promising and warrants replication in future studies. Additional research is needed to evaluate longer-term effects and to identify individual differences associated with improvement.
Gallagher-Thompson
Dolores
D
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. dolorest@stanford.edu
Gray
Heather L
HL
Tang
Paulette C Y
PC
Pu
Chun Yu
CY
Leung
Laurie Y L
LY
Wang
Peng-Chih
PC
Tse
Collins
C
Hsu
Shannon
S
Kwo
Elizabeth
E
Tong
Hui-Qi
HQ
Long
James
J
Thompson
Larry W
LW
D044466:Asian People; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015277:Hotlines / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods