Recalled attributes of parents with Alzheimer's disease: relevance for caregiving

Figures & data

Table 1. Correlations between Time 1 and Time 2 for semantic differential evaluations of a parent prior to onset of symptoms (N = 199) and evaluations for the present (N = 141 to 180)^a, and between prior and present status for parents in the bottom two-thirds (N = 153–199)^a or upper one-third (N = 104–106) in cognitive status based on Mini-Mental Exam^a.

	T1 vs. T2 correlations		Prior vs. present correlations
	Prior to onset	Present status	Lower 2/3 in cognition	Top 1/3 in cognition
Grateful	.60*	.49*	.29*	.39*
Upset	.62*	.52*	.23*	.27*
Independent	.74*	.31*	.10	.18
Happy	.70*	.59*	.20*	.38*
Kind	.58*	.56*	.35*	.57*
Fair	.62*	.58*	.28*	.33*
Cooperative	.55*	.45*	.27*	.40*
Irresponsible	.51*	.44*	.09	.04
Poor	.52*	.57*	.51*	.76*
Strong	.71*	.57*	.30*	.36*
Generous	.62*	.47*	.34*	.55*
Warm	.66*	.47*	.39*	.50*
Average correlation	.62	.50	.28	.39

^aSample Ns for these correlations varied; more subjects felt unable to rate parent's current personality, at both T1 and T2.

*Pearson correlation p = .00.

Table 2. Set statistics and beta weights at entry from hierarchical regression analyses predicting how well the caregiver is doing with caregiving at first interview.

	Assistance provided (n = 199)			Current stress (n = 278)			Evaluated future (266)			Burden (279)
	B	R^2	▵R^2	B	R^2	▵R^2	B	R^2	▵R^2	B	R^2	▵R^2
SET 1: caregiver		.07	.07***		.04	.04***		.01	.01*
Women	.10*			−.18***
Income	−.20***
Non-ethnic	−.15**			−.08			−.10*
SET 2: parent		.10	.03***					.04	.03***		.03	.03***
Married	−.17***						−.18***			−.17***
SET 3: attributes: patient		.13	.03**		.09	.05***		.07	.03***		.14	.11***
Dependent	.11*						−.09*			.13***
Rich	.11*
Fair				−.13**						−.14***
Depressed				−.14***						.13**
Calm							.15***
Ungrateful										.12**

Note: Based on analyses limited to predictors originally contributing at probabilities equal to or below .10. Only results with probabilities of .10 or higher are shown.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.

Table 3. Set statistics and beta weights from hierarchical regression analyses predicting the general psychological well-being of the caregiver at first interview. Based on analyses limited to predictors originally contributing at probabilities equal to or below p = .10.

	Depression (n = 199)			Anxiety (199)			Negative affect (n = 199)			Positive affect (n = 199)
	B	R^2	▵R^2	B	R^2	▵R^2	B	R^2	▵R^2	B	R^2	▵R^2
SET 1: caregiver		.04	.04***								.02	.02**
Women	.16***
Income	−.13**									.15**
SET 2: parent											.04	.02**
Married										−.13**
SET 3:attributes: patient		.07	.03***		.05	.05***		.04	.04**		.06	.02*
Depressed							.22***			−.13
Cooperative							.11*
Weak	.16***			.22***
Dependent
Kind										.11*

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.