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Caregiver personality predicts rate of cognitive decline in a community sample of persons with Alzheimer's disease. The Cache County Dementia Progression Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2013

Maria C. Norton ,
Christine Clark ,
Elizabeth B. Fauth ,
Kathleen W. Piercy ,
Roxane Pfister ,
Robert C. Green ,
Christopher D. Corcoran ,
Peter V. Rabins ,
Constantine G. Lyketsos  and
JoAnn T. Tschanz
Maria C. Norton*
Affiliation:
Department of Family Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
Christine Clark
Affiliation:
Department of Family Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
Elizabeth B. Fauth
Affiliation:
Department of Family Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
Kathleen W. Piercy
Affiliation:
Department of Family Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
Roxane Pfister
Affiliation:
Department of Family Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
Robert C. Green
Affiliation:
Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Christopher D. Corcoran
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
Peter V. Rabins
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Constantine G. Lyketsos
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
JoAnn T. Tschanz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr. Maria C. Norton, Department of Family Consumer and Human Development, Utah State University, 2905 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-2905, USA. Phone: (435) 797-1599; Fax: (435) 797-3845. Email: maria.norton@usu.edu.
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Abstract

Background:

Environmental influences on the rate of Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression have received little attention. Our objective was to test hypotheses concerning associations between caregiver personality traits and the rate of AD progression.

Methods:

Care receivers (CR) were 161 persons with AD from a population-based dementia progression study; 55 of their caregivers were spouses and 106 were adult children. Cognitive status of the CR was measured with the Mini-Mental State Examination every six months, over an average of 5.6 (range: 1–14) years. Linear mixed models tested rate of cognitive decline as a function of caregiver personality traits from the NEO Five-Factor Inventory.

Results:

Significantly faster cognitive decline was observed with higher caregiver Neuroticism overall; however, in stratified models, effects were significant for adult child but not spouse caregivers. Neuroticism facets of depression, anxiety, and vulnerability to stress were significantly associated with faster decline. Higher caregiver Extraversion was associated with slower decline in the CR when caregivers were adult children but not spouses.

Conclusions:

For adult child caregivers, caregiver personality traits are associated with rate of cognitive decline in CRs with AD regardless of co-residency. Results suggest that dementia caregiver interventions promoting positive care management strategies and ways to react to caregiving challenges may eventually become an important complement to pharmacologic and other approaches aimed at slower rate of decline in dementia.

Keywords

caregiverpersonalitydementiacognitivedecline
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 25 , Issue 10 , October 2013 , pp. 1629 - 1637
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2013 

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