Cognitive functioning among cognitively intact dementia caregivers compared to matched self-selected and population controls. (4th May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: O'Sullivan, Michael; Brennan, Sabina; Lawlor, Brian A.; Hannigan, Caoimhe; Robertson, Ian H.; Pertl, Maria M.
• Is Part Of: Aging & mental health. Volume 23:Number 5(2019)
• Page Start: 566
• Page End: 573
• Publication Date: 2019-05-04
• Subjects: Cognition -- caregiving -- stress -- Alzheimer's -- sampling -- matching; Older people -- Mental health -- Periodicals; Geriatric psychiatry -- Periodicals; Older people -- Psychology -- Periodicals; Aging -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; Aged -- psychology -- periodicals; Mental Health -- periodicals; Mental Health Services -- periodicals; Aging -- psychology -- periodicals; Aged, 80 and over -- psychology -- periodicals; 618.97689
• DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2018.1428937
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1360-7863

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Purpose of the study: Caregiving for a person with dementia is frequently used to model the impact of chronic stress on health, including cognitive functioning. However, the prevalence of typically healthier, self-selecting non-caregiving control groups could contribute to a picture of poorer caregiver performance and overstate the negative effects of stress. We investigated differences in cognitive performance between dementia caregivers and two groups of non-caregivers recruited using different sampling methods. Design and methods: We compared cognitive function and psychological wellbeing among 252 spousal dementia caregivers with demographically matched non-caregiving control groups drawn from (1) a population study and (2) a self-selecting sample. Comparable cognitive measures included immediate and delayed recall, processing speed reaction time and verbal fluency. Results: Caregiver and non-caregiver performance was comparable on most cognitive domains. However, caregivers outperformed both control groups on processing speed ( p ≤ .05) and reaction time ( p ≤ .05), despite having higher levels of stress and depression ( p s < .001). Furthermore, caregivers had significantly better free recall than self-selecting controls ( p < .001). Implications: Our results, overall, do not support the idea that caregiving is associated with stress-induced cognitive deficits. Rather, the trend toward better caregiver performance is consistent with the healthy caregiver hypothesis.