
AsianScientist (Oct. 21, 2016) – An international research team has shown how depressive symptoms may differ depending on the familial relationship between patients with dementia and caregivers—in particular, a patient’s daughter versus daughter-in-law. The study was published in the Journal of Women’s Health.
Too often overlooked is the risk of depression in caregivers of patients with dementia. In Asian societies, a daughter-in-law often takes on the caretaker role, rather than a spouse or child, according to the researchers Dr. Lee Juwon from the University of Kansas in the US and colleagues from Daegu University and Seoul National University in South Korea. They also noted in their paper that one caregiver relationship that has been neglected in caregiver depression research is the daughter-in-law.
In the present study, the researchers recruited 95 daughter and daughter-in-law caregivers of dementia patients, who were asked to report their own depressive symptoms and patient behavioral symptoms. Patients’ cognitive abilities, daily activities, and global dementia ratings were also obtained.
In both groups of caregivers, depressive symptoms increased as the frequency and severity of a patient’s behavioral symptoms rose, but the level of depression was more strongly affected among one group of caregivers than the other: the daughters. The researchers attributed this finding to the relationship between patient and caregiver, and suggested that the emotional relationship between the daughter and patient exacerbates the negative effect of behavioral symptoms on caregiver depression.
They noted in their paper that familial relationship between the caregiver and dementia patient should be considered when managing caregiver stress.
The article can be found at: Lee et al. (2016) Impact of Behavioral Symptoms in Dementia Patients on Depression in Daughter and Daughter-in-Law Caregivers.
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Source: Mary Ann Liebert Inc. Publishers; Photo: Pixabay.
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