Aging & mental health
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Aging & mental health · Mar 2010
The burden of spousal caregiving: a preliminary psychometric evaluation of the German version of the Zarit burden interview.
Despite a rapid increase in studies dealing with dementia caregivers in Europe, a valid German version of the most widely used measurement of caregiver burden (Zarit Burden Interview) has not yet been published. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the German Zarit Burden Interview (G-ZBI). ⋯ The psychometric qualities of the G-ZBI indicate that it is both a reliable and valid instrument to assess caregiver burden and to detect highly stressed individuals.
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Aging & mental health · Nov 2009
Effects of marital closeness on the transition from caregiving to widowhood.
To examine the effects of marital closeness on indicators of well-being (depressive symptoms, grief, and relief) as spouses transition from the role of caregiver to that of widowed person. ⋯ These data highlight differences in the experiences of grief, relief, and depressive symptoms and suggest that marital closeness plays a central role. Results are interpreted in terms of theory regarding marital quality. Implications for interventions to improve the lives of caregivers and newly widowed spouses are discussed.
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Aging & mental health · Jan 2009
Mortality communication as a predictor of psychological distress among family caregivers of home hospice and hospital inpatients with terminal cancer.
Terminally ill cancer patients and their caregivers experience significant difficulties discussing illness and impending death (herein defined as mortality communication). The current study compares response levels as well as patterns of association between mortality communication and psychological distress among caregivers of home hospice and hospital inpatients. For this study, 231 family caregivers were recruited within a year of bereavement from the south and central health regions of Israel. ⋯ Separate path analytic models indicate statistically significant inverse associations between mortality communication and psychological distress (i.e. depressive symptomatology, emotional exhaustion). Invariance analyses indicate that the strength of association between variables did not differ between path models. The results of this study are discussed in terms of self-selection biases and possible confounds associated with retrospective reporting among bereaved caregivers.
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Aging & mental health · Jul 2008
Comparative StudyEmpathy and social functioning in late adulthood.
Both cognitive and affective empathy are regarded as essential prerequisites for successful social functioning, and recent studies have suggested that cognitive, but not affective, empathy may be adversely affected as a consequence of normal adult aging. This decline in cognitive empathy is of concern, as older adults are particularly susceptible to the negative physical and mental health consequences of loneliness and social isolation. ⋯ These findings are consistent with theoretical models that regard cognitive empathy as an essential prerequisite for good interpersonal functioning. However, the cross-sectional nature of the study leaves open the question of causality for future studies.