Self-efficacy buffers the relationship between dementia caregiving stress and circulating concentrations of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6.
OBJECTIVE
the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-6 has been linked with health morbidity, particularly risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential protective role of coping self-efficacy on the relationship between caregiving stress and circulating concentrations of IL-6.


METHODS
a total of 62 elderly caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (mean age: 74 years) were assessed for plasma concentrations of IL-6, caregiving-related overload, and coping self-efficacy. Multiple regression was used to examine the main effects of stress and self-efficacy, as well as the interaction between stress and self-efficacy, in predicting plasma IL-6 after controlling for age, gender, resting blood pressure, and obesity.


RESULTS
there was a significant interaction between stress and self-efficacy in predicting IL-6. Post-hoc examination indicated that when self-efficacy was low, stress was significantly related to IL-6 (β = 0.43). However, when self-efficacy was high, stress was not significantly related to IL-6 (β = -0.10).


CONCLUSIONS
caregiving stress in combination with low coping self-efficacy is significantly related to IL-6, a known risk marker for health morbidity, particularly CVD. However, stress was not associated with IL-6 with high self-efficacy. Although limited and preliminary, these results point to a potential protective effect of self-efficacy on caregiver health that can be tested in longitudinal studies.
Mausbach
Brent T
BT
Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093-0680, USA. bmausbach@ucsd.edu
von Känel
Roland
R
Roepke
Susan K
SK
Moore
Raeanne
R
Patterson
Thomas L
TL
Mills
Paul J
PJ
Dimsdale
Joel E
JE
Ziegler
Michael G
MG
Ancoli-Israel
Sonia
S
Allison
Matthew
M
Grant
Igor
I
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000451:nursing*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology
D015850:Interleukin-6
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