TY - JOUR

T1 - Sense of coherence, subjective burden, and anxiety and depression symptoms in caregivers of people with dementia: Causal dynamics unveiled by a longitudinal cohort study in Europe.

AU - Goncalves-Pereira, Manuel

AU - Marques, Maria

AU - Alves, R F

AU - Jelley, Hannah

AU - Wolfs, Claire

AU - Meyer, Gabriele

AU - Bieber, Anja

AU - Irving, Kate

AU - Hopper, Louise

AU - Zanetti, Orazio

AU - Portolani, Daniel Michael

AU - Selbaek, Geir

AU - Rosvik, Janne

AU - Skoldunger, Anders

AU - Sjölund, Britt-Marie

AU - de Vugt, Marjolein E.

AU - Verhey, Frans

AU - Woods, Bob

PY - 2024/12/21

Y1 - 2024/12/21

N2 - BackgroundSense of coherence (SOC) is a disposition to perceive things as comprehensible, manageable and meaningful. Lower SOC is associated with subjective burden and psychological morbidity in family caregivers, including in dementia. However, the evidence-base mainly comprises small-scale or cross-sectional studies. More should be known about SOC stability, causal relationships, and international contexts. We aimed to study longitudinal links between dementia caregivers' SOC, subjective burden, and anxiety and depression symptoms in a multinational sample.MethodsWe analyzed the EU-Actifcare cohort (451 dyads of community-dwelling people with mild-moderate dementia and their caregivers). Caregivers' assessments included: SOC scale, Relatives' Stress Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A cross-lagged panel model was used to investigate associations between these measures at baseline, 6 and 12-month follow-ups, controlling for covariates.ResultsCaregivers' subjective burden, anxiety and depression symptoms increased over time, SOC remaining overall stable. Considering the first six-month follow-up, we found bidirectional relationships between SOC and subjective burden, and SOC and anxiety symptoms, while lower SOC predicted depression symptoms but not vice versa. For the remaining follow-up period, both anxiety and depression symptoms predicted lower SOC but not vice versa.

AB - BackgroundSense of coherence (SOC) is a disposition to perceive things as comprehensible, manageable and meaningful. Lower SOC is associated with subjective burden and psychological morbidity in family caregivers, including in dementia. However, the evidence-base mainly comprises small-scale or cross-sectional studies. More should be known about SOC stability, causal relationships, and international contexts. We aimed to study longitudinal links between dementia caregivers' SOC, subjective burden, and anxiety and depression symptoms in a multinational sample.MethodsWe analyzed the EU-Actifcare cohort (451 dyads of community-dwelling people with mild-moderate dementia and their caregivers). Caregivers' assessments included: SOC scale, Relatives' Stress Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A cross-lagged panel model was used to investigate associations between these measures at baseline, 6 and 12-month follow-ups, controlling for covariates.ResultsCaregivers' subjective burden, anxiety and depression symptoms increased over time, SOC remaining overall stable. Considering the first six-month follow-up, we found bidirectional relationships between SOC and subjective burden, and SOC and anxiety symptoms, while lower SOC predicted depression symptoms but not vice versa. For the remaining follow-up period, both anxiety and depression symptoms predicted lower SOC but not vice versa.

U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2024.12.078

DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2024.12.078

M3 - Article

VL - 373

SP - 1

EP - 11

JO - Journal of Affective Disorders

JF - Journal of Affective Disorders

SN - 0165-0327

ER -