Research on the stress resulting from caring for persons with dementia has focused on how care-recipient impairments serve as stressors on the caregiver. Little attention has been given to the reverse effect, namely, how caregiver resources and well-being may affect the well-being of the person with dementia. We propose to extend the stress process model fo the caregiver to include stress effects on the care recipient, The research question is: do decreases in caregiver resources and caregiver well-being shorten the time to death of persons with Alzheimer's disease? In addressing this question, we will control for measures of care-recipient impairments such as mental status, dependence in activities of daily living, and behavioral problems. Caregiver resources will be measured by multiple indicators of both coping strategies and social support. Life satisfaction, depression, physical health, and positive-negative affect will be the indicators of caregiver well-being. We will also examine the effects of primary subjective stressors, namely, role captivity and role overload, on the survival of the care recipient. In addressing the basic research question, we will test the subsidiary question of whether decline caregiver well-being and resources lead to earlier placement in long term care that, in turn, contributes. The survival analysis will use a clinic- based sample of 340 persons with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers that entered an Alzheimer's disease research registry between 1993 and 1998. Data have been collected annually since entry and will continue to be collected through June 2002, controlling for changes in care recipient impairments. This study will help fill a void in the research literature by indicating where to best target interventions that will help not only the caregiver but the person with dementia as well.
| McClendon, McKee J; Smyth, Kathleen A; Neundorfer, Marcia M (2006) Long-term-care placement and survival of persons with Alzheimer's disease. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 61:P220-7 |
| Neundorfer, M M; McClendon, M J; Smyth, K A et al. (2006) Does depression prior to caregiving increase vulnerability to depressive symptoms among caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease? Aging Ment Health 10:606-15 |
| McClendon, McKee J; Smyth, Kathleen A; Neundorfer, Marcia M (2004) Survival of persons with Alzheimer's disease: caregiver coping matters. Gerontologist 44:508-19 |
