Positive aspects of caregiving attenuate the relationship between behavioral bother and anxiety and depressive symptoms in dementia family caregivers

• Published in: Geriatrics & gerontology international Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 366 - 370
• Main Author: Cheng, Sheung‐Tak
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kyoto, Japan John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 01.05.2023; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Anxiety; Behavior; behavioral bother; Caregivers; Caregivers - psychology; caregiving; Dementia; depression; Depression - diagnosis; Humans; Mental depression; Self Report; behavioral bother; anxiety; dementia; depression; caregiving
• ISSN: 1444-1586; 1447-0594
• DOI: 10.1111/ggi.14581

Aim To examine the protective role of positive aspects of caregiving (PAC) in terms of whether it dampens the relationship between behavioral bother and anxiety/depressive symptoms. Methods The baseline data of the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health I trial were used. US dementia family caregivers (N = 1222) responded to standard self‐report measures of PAC, behavioral bother, depression, anxiety, challenging behaviors, and functional impairment. The buffering effect of PAC was tested using moderational regression. Results Controlling for caregivers' age, sex and behavioral bother, and care‐recipients' challenging behaviors and functional impairment, PAC was mildly inversely related to depressive and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, a significant PAC × behavioral bother interaction effect was found such that the relationship between behavioral bother, on the one hand, and depression and anxiety, on the other, became weaker with higher PAC. In particular, when behavioral bother was low, depressive and anxiety symptoms were similar regardless of levels of PAC. But when behavioral bother was high, caregivers who reported higher levels of PAC were less depressed and anxious than those with lower levels, with their standardized mean differences being small to moderate. Conclusions PAC was found to be associated with less mood symptoms partly directly and partly through modifying the effect of behavioral bother on depression and anxiety. Caregivers who were highly troubled by the relative's challenging behaviors, but who found higher levels of PAC at the same time, experienced better emotional well‐being. Having PAC may make the burden of caregiving more tolerable, thereby alleviating caregiver distress down the road. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2023; 23: 366–370. In a sample of US dementia caregivers (N = 1222), a significant positive aspects of caregiving (PAC) × behavioral bother interaction effect was found such that the relationship between behavioral bother, on the one hand, and depression and anxiety, on the other, became weaker with higher levels of PAC. In particular, when behavioral bother was low, depressive and anxiety symptoms were similar regardless of levels of PAC. But when behavioral bother was high, caregivers who reported higher levels of PAC were less depressed and anxious than those with lower levels, with their standardized mean differences being small to moderate.