Correlates of psychological distress in study partners of older people with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) – the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

Abstract

Objectives: Psychological effects of supporting someone with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are often overlooked. We aimed to establish correlates of psychological distress in study partners of individuals with and without nonclinical MCI.Methods: Demographic, psychosocial and health measures were obtained cross-sectionally from 714 participants (39% MCI) and study partners of a longitudinal community-based study on cognitive aging. Study partners (i.e. family members/friends) were categorized as providing support with instrumental everyday activities or not. Psychological distress was measured by the Kessler psychological distress scale. Multiple hierarchical regressions examined determinants of psychological distress within Pearlin's stress process model.Results: Psychological distress was generally low and not associated with MCI or whether study partners provided support or not. Instead, distress was greater if participants were male irrespective of study partners’ sex and if study partners reported negative reactions to participants’ behavioral symptoms, felt burdened by providing support and showed worse coping abilities; overall explaining 37% variance. Self-rated disability and aspects of health-related quality of life explained additional 7%.Conclusion: Objective impairment measures were not associated with distress in partners or supporters. However, study partners’ appraisals of functional and behavioral symptoms were linked to increased distress even in this very mildly affected community cohort.

Keywords:

• caregiver
• burden
• behavior
• instrumental activities of daily living
• prodromal dementia

Acknowledgements

The authors like to acknowledge the staff of the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study for their tireless hard work and support for the study as well as thank all participants and study partners without whom this project would have not been possible.

Additional information

Funding

This work has been supported by the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre – Assessment and Better Care as part of the Australian Government's Dementia Initiative [grant number CB38] to K.M. Seeher; the Australian Association of Gerontology R.M. Gibson Research Fund [grant number RG114124] to K.M. Seeher; the National Health and Medical Research Council [grant number 56894] to S. Reppermund and N.A. Kochan; the National Health and Medical Research Council [grant number APP1024224] to M.J. Slavin; the National Health and Medical Research Council [grant numbers 350833 and 568969] to H. Brodaty and P.S. Sachdev.