title: Caregiver personality predicts rate of cognitive decline in a community sample of persons with Alzheimer's disease. The Cache County Dementia Progression Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Environmental influences on the rate of Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression have received little attention. Our objective was to test hypotheses concerning associations between caregiver personality traits and the rate of AD progression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Care receivers (CR) were 161 persons with AD from a population-based dementia progression study; 55 of their caregivers were spouses and 106 were adult children. Cognitive status of the CR was measured with the Mini-Mental State Examination every six months, over an average of 5.6 (range: 1-14) years. Linear mixed models tested rate of cognitive decline as a function of caregiver personality traits from the NEO Five-Factor Inventory.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significantly faster cognitive decline was observed with higher caregiver Neuroticism overall; however, in stratified models, effects were significant for adult child but not spouse caregivers. Neuroticism facets of depression, anxiety, and vulnerability to stress were significantly associated with faster decline. Higher caregiver Extraversion was associated with slower decline in the CR when caregivers were adult children but not spouses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For adult child caregivers, caregiver personality traits are associated with rate of cognitive decline in CRs with AD regardless of co-residency. Results suggest that dementia caregiver interventions promoting positive care management strategies and ways to react to caregiving challenges may eventually become an important complement to pharmacologic and other approaches aimed at slower rate of decline in dementia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA. maria.norton@usu.edu
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Norton
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Elizabeth B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Fauth
authors.forename: Kathleen W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Piercy
authors.forename: Roxane
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pfister
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Christopher D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Corcoran
authors.forename: Peter V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Rabins
authors.forename: Constantine G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Lyketsos
authors.forename: Joann T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Tschanz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D018450:Disease Progression; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D000075384:Neuroticism; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology