Predictors of psychological distress and sleep quality in former family caregivers of people with dementia

Abstract

Objectives: The stress-related psychological symptoms experienced by informal family caregivers do not always improve or resolve after the death of the care recipient. The purpose of this study was to explore the independent associations of sociodemographic variables, personality and coping, environmental variables, and caregiver guilt with the sleep quality and psychological distress of former family caregivers of individuals with dementia following care recipient's death.

Method: A cross-sectional, correlational study was conducted with a sample of 171 former family caregivers of people with dementia. Participants completed an online survey comprised of six instruments and demographic items. Caregiver personal variables (e.g. personality and coping), environmental variables, guilt, psychological distress (depressive and anxiety symptoms), and sleep quality were evaluated using psychometrically validated measures.

Results: In bivariate analysis, post-caregiving guilt was significantly associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms (p < 0.01). After controlling for covariates, dysfunctional coping and neuroticism explained 32% of the variance in depressive symptoms (R² = .52, ΔR² = .32, F(5, 165) = 36.24, p < .001) and 24% of the variance in anxiety symptoms (R² = .41, ΔR² = .24, F(5, 165) = 22.65, p < .001), while dysfunctional coping, pre-loss depression, and extraversion accounted for 16% of the variance in sleep quality (R² = .30, ΔR² = .16, F(6, 164) = 11.44, p < .001).

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the critical role of personal variables, including personality traits, coping strategies, and pre-loss depression, in explaining psychological distress and sleep quality in this sample of former dementia caregivers.

Keywords:

• Post-caregiving
• dementia
• family caregiving
• psychological distress
• sleep disturbances

Additional information

Funding

KLC acknowledges support from the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award training program Individualized Care for At Risk Older Adults at the University of Pennsylvania funded by National Institute of Nursing Research T32NR009356