Caring for the caregivers

The relationship between disabled elderly veteran care receivers' functional status and their in-home family caregivers' strain was examined in this study. The convenience sample was composed of 93 dyads. Data were obtained from care receivers' health care records and included the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination (MMS), Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and Robinson's Caregiver Strain Index (CSI). Major findings were: 52% of caregivers experienced significant strain; 59% of care receivers were cognitively impaired to some extent and were severely impaired in IADL and ADL; and the relationships between care receivers' functional status (cognitive, ADL and IADL) and caregiver strain were statistically significant.     

Face and tone of voice in the communication of deception.

An experiment with 60 senders and 9 judges (undergraduates) examined the contributions of face and tone of voice (TOV; filtered speech) to the communication of honest and deceptive messages. TOV was a better source of deception and leakage than the face. Judgments of the combined audiovisual channel (AVC) was better predicted from their TOV judgments when the message was deceptive and from their judgments of the face when the message was honest. When verbal content was available, the face became less important. Judges obtained more information from facial cues that were added to filtered speech than from those added to full voice. Judgments of the AVC without content were better predicted from judgments of filtered speech. The relative importance of face and TOV was also determined by the affect that was communicated. TOV was a better source of information about dominance and submission; the face revealed more information and was more highly correlated with the combined AVC for communication of liking and disliking. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of neuroticism and mastery in spouse caregivers' assessment of and response to a contextual stressor

Data from more than 300 spousal caregivers and their care recipients were analyzed to demonstrate the effects of caregivers' personality attributes--neuroticism and mastery--on their assessment of a contextual stressor (the care recipient's behavioral and functional impairment) and on their experience of distress associated with that stressor. Caregivers who were high in neuroticism and/or low in mastery reported higher levels of behavioral and functional impairment in their disabled spouse and experienced more strain and depressive symptoms associated with caregiving relative to caregivers with lower neuroticism or higher mastery scores. We further showed that the widely reported association between caregiver-assessed impairment of the care recipient and caregiver outcomes can in part be explained by caregivers' personality attributes, such as neuroticism and mastery. Our findings that caregivers' personality variables are related to their assessment of a given objective stressor and their response to a given level of stress have implications for interventions targeting caregivers and for the use of caregivers as proxy informants.     

Longitudinal impact of interhousehold caregiving on adult children's mental health.

The wear-and-tear hypothesis of caregiving (the longer care provided, the more psychological strain on caregivers) was examined using panel survey data from 112 adult children providing interhousehold care to an impaired elderly parent. Measures included subjective caregiving stress and perceived caregiving effectiveness ("wear") and depression and affect balance ("tear"). Contrary to the hypothesis, data revealed variability in children's adaptation to caregiving, improvement rather than deterioration being the norm. In a recursive path model, both subjective stress and perceived effectiveness were significant predictors of changes in depression. Depression was not significantly related to duration of caregiving. Discussion suggests that future researchers consider other types of caregivers and care settings, factors predicting variability in caregivers' adaptation over time, and changes as well as stability in care arrangements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pinpointing reality: How well can people judge true and mistaken emotional childhood memories?

The present study evaluated how well people are able to identify completely mistaken emotional memories from childhood. Further, possible individual differences, including personality/interpersonal traits and cue utilization strategies, contributing to this ability were examined. 137 participants (aged 17-34 yrs) viewed videos of true and mistaken childhood memory reports and judged whether the target had actually experienced the described event. Results indicate that 60% of judges accurately identified mistaken memories (greater than chance) and 53% accurately identified true memories (performing at chance). Compared to inaccurate judges, accurate judges were interpersonally less unassuming-ingenuous and more arrogant-calculating and aloof-introverted. Accurate judges also reported using more overall cues to formulate their judgments than inaccurate judges. Brief exposure to information about empirically based cues to mistaken memories prior to veracity judgments impaired rather than facilitated judgment ability. Implications for credibility assessment in applied settings and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decreased IGF-I gene expression during the apoptosis of Purkinje cells in pcd mice

The purpose of this study was to develop concepts that facilitate our understanding of why family caregivers of demented elderly persons can continue caregiving despite various difficulties of care. Twenty-six Japanese daughter or daughter-in-law caregivers of elderly parents with dementia who lived at home or in long-term care facilities were recruited through various senior service organizations in Japan. The caregivers underwent unstructured interviews, and the interview data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Three categories emerged as reasons for care continuation: value of care, maintainers of value, and reinforcers of care continuation. Value of care came from societal norms and attachment, and was the basis of caregivers' motivation to continue care. Several maintainers of value and reinforcers of care continuation also emerged from the analysis. The contents and some longitudinal changes in these categories were explained. The findings highlight the need to assess these categories separately in order to develop appropriate interventions and they have implications for future research and policy development.     

Structural equation modeling of the relationship between caregiver psychosocial variables and functioning of individuals with stroke.

Purpose/Objective: Stroke is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Informal caregivers are essential in the survival of most individuals with stroke and may even aid in their recovery. Yet caregivers experience high levels of burnout, depression, burden, and physical illness. Research Method/Design: With structural equation modeling and canonical correlation analysis, links were identified between caregiver psychosocial variables and specific aspects of the functioning of individuals with stroke in 135 care recipient-caregiver dyads. Results: Initial analyses uncovered a medium-sized correlation between caregiver variables and care recipients' functioning. Follow-up analyses pinpointed specific links between caregivers' sense of coherence and care recipients' basic engagement with life and between caregivers' levels of burden and depression and care recipients' cognitive deficits and depression. Conclusions/Implications: On the basis of these findings, the authors propose a feedback loop wherein caregivers' psychosocial functioning, their quality of caregiving, and stroke severity and recovery are causally interconnected. Findings are consistent with the use of cognitive-behavioral interventions for caregivers, which may improve caregivers' sense of coherence, reducing their levels of burden and depression and leading to improved informal care and better recovery from stroke. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Talking to children, foreigners, and retarded adults.

Examined speech addressed to different categories of listeners in a study in which 80 undergraduate women taught a block design task to either a 5–7 yr old girl (n?=?6), a retarded adult (4 women, aged 20–33 yrs), a peer who spoke English as a 2nd language (4 adult women [foreigners]), or a peer who was an unimpaired native speaker of English (2 women undergraduates). Speech addressed to children differed from the speech addressed to native adults along every major dimension. It was clearer, simpler, more attention maintaining, and included longer pauses. Speech addressed to retarded adults was similar to speech addressed to 6-yr-olds. Speech to the retarded adults did differ in timing from the other styles of speaking in that it included fewer and somewhat shorter pauses. Speech addressed to foreigners was more repetitive than speech addressed to native speakers, but in all other ways it was similar. Results show that speakers fine-tuned their communications to the level of cognitive and linguistic sophistication of their listener. The hypothesis that baby talk (the speech addressed to children) is a prototypical special speech register from which other special registers are derived is discussed. (66 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Caregivers' experiences in making placement decisions

Demographic trends indicate a growth in the older adult population, and in turn, are affecting the availability and use of health services. Although placement of an older adult charge into nursing home care is often described as a logical progression through the continuum of available services, informal caregivers often view placement as a last resort or as an indication of failure. This qualitative study used grounded theory methods to explore the experiences of caregivers actively involved in the process of placing an older adult in a long-term care facility upon discharge from acute care. Four themes (uncertainty, surrendering to the system, urgency, and validating) were interwoven throughout caregivers' perspectives of the conflictive decision to use nursing home care after hospitalization.     

Patterns of coping preferences for male and female caregivers of frail older adults.

The similarities and differences in male and female caregivers' preferred strategies for coping and the perceived helpfulness of these strategies in managing caregiving stressors were examined in this study. Respondents were 170 caregivers (139 women and 31 men) who were primary caregivers for an elderly adult relative who was either cognitively impaired or physically frail. Results provide preliminary evidence that gender is related to frequency of use but not to the perceived helpfulness of specific coping strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consensus at zero acquaintance: Replication, behavioral cues, and stability.

That observers tend to agree in their ratings of a target even if they have never interacted with that target has been called consensus at zero acquaintance. The basic finding that consensus is highest for judgments concerning a target's degree of extraversion (EV) and somewhat weaker for judgments of conscientiousness is replicated. Several potential observable cues that might be used by judges when rating targets are examined. The finding that ratings of physical attractiveness correlate with judgments of EV is replicated. In Study 1, rapid body movements and smiling were also found to correlate with EV judgments. The level of consensus declined when initially unacquainted Ss interacted 1-on-1 (Study 2), but did not decline—and even increased—when Ss interacted in a group (Study 3). Ss judged as extraverted at zero acquaintance were also seen as extraverted after interacting with others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Binding ties: Closeness and conflict in adult children's caregiving relationships.

The authors used a path model to test the hypothesis that emotional closeness and conflict between adult–child caregivers (N?=?90) and their impaired parents mediated the impact of the parents' functional and cognitive impairment on the caregivers' subjective stress, subjective effectiveness, and depression. Closeness mediated the relationship between cognitive impairment and both stress and effectiveness, whereas conflict mediated cognitive impairment for all 3 outcomes and generally accounted for more variance. There was limited evidence that functional impairment was mediated by the quality of the relationship. Results highlight the importance of both positive and negative ties as intervening mechanisms influencing caregivers' well-being, especially in the presence of cognitive dysfunction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathy and nonverbal behavior in an interpersonal situation.

88 male adolescents living in a minimum security institution were judged by their counselors on a scale measuring psychopathic behavior. Two extreme groups were composed, with 25 Ss each. These Ss were questioned by a male interviewer in a face-to-face situation about their leisure activities. Trained judges analyzed videotape recordings of the Ss' and the interviewer's nonverbal and paralinguistic behavior. Global judgments of the Ss' emotional states were also requested of the judges. Results show that compared with nonpsycopaths, psychopathic Ss displayed more hand gestures and leaned forward more, thus reducing the distance between them and their partner. They also looked toward their partner's eyes for much longer periods and tended to smile less than nonpsychopaths. On the other hand, when interacting with psychopaths, the interviewer spoke significantly less than with nonpsychopaths. A number of other observed differences in emotional expression between the 2 groups are discussed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative importance of face, body, and speech in judgments of personality and affect.

Three experiments correlated judgments made from observing single channels (face, body, or speech) with multiple channel judgments (face, body, and speech together; or face and speech together). Judges observed the spontaneous behavior of videotaped student nurses in 2 types of interview situations, "deceptive" and "honest," and rated the nurses on 14 bipolar adjective scales (e.g., awkward–natural). The single channel judgments that correlated most highly with the multiple channel judgments depended on the type of attribute being judged and the situation in which the behavior occurred (e.g., in the deception condition, judgments made from speech had the highest correlation with whole-person judgments). (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of baby talk, frequency of receiving baby talk, and self-esteem among community and nursing home residents.

Community-living seniors (n?=?113) and nursing home residents (n?=?43) provided their impressions of baby-talk and neutral-talk scenarios and completed measures of functional health, need for succorance, and self-esteem. Two orthogonal dimensions were found in perceptions of baby talk: Warmth and Superiority. The personality trait of need for succorance was consistently associated with perceptions of warmth in baby talk, whereas functional health, age, and institutionalization were associated with perceptions of superiority. Significant interactions were found between perceptions of baby talk and frequency of receiving baby talk in the prediction of self-esteem, providing suggestive evidence for previously expressed concerns about potentially harmful effects of receiving baby talk on self-esteem among seniors who have negative perceptions of baby talk. However, older persons with positive perceptions of baby talk reported higher self-esteem when they frequently received baby talk, in accordance with person-environment theory. The self-esteem interaction for men occurred on the Superiority dimension, whereas the interaction for women occurred on the Warmth dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Olympic medals as fruits of comparison? Assimilation and contrast in sequential performance judgments.

The authors investigated the evaluative consequences of sequential performance judgments. Recent social comparison research has suggested that performance judgments may be influenced by judgments about a preceding performance. Specifically, performance judgments may be assimilated to judgments of the preceding performance if judges focus on similarities between the two. If judges focus on differences, however, contrast may ensue. The authors examined sequential performance judgments, using data gathered from the 2004 Olympic Games as well as data gathered in the laboratory with students or experienced gymnastics judges as participants. Sequential performance judgments were influenced by previously judged performances, and the direction of this influence depended on the degree of perceived similarity between the successive performances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When expectancy meets desire: Motivational effects in reconstructive memory.

Investigated, in 2 studies with 326 undergraduates, the effects of motivational factors on expectancy use in reconstructive memory. Ss were given a target's midterm grades for later recall; expectancies about the target's future performance were then manipulated. Ss' desires to see their expectancies confirmed were manipulated by making the target likable or unlikable. It was hypothesized that when expectancy and liking "matched," Ss would give significant weight to their expectancies at retrieval, resulting in expectancy-congruent distortion of the midterm grades. However, when expectancy and liking were "mismatched," expectancies would be discounted, and Ss would show little or not expectancy-congruent distortion. Results supported these predictions. Study 2 varied the order of the expectancy and liking information. Order affected the process by which mismatch Ss discounted their expectancies. Results demonstrate that motivations not only may bias memory search but also may affect the reconstruction of existing memory traces. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Awareness of influences on one's own judgments: The roles of covariation detection and attention to the judgment process.

Forty-eight actor participants examined profiles of target persons and judged how much they would like each target. Initial-attention actors were instructed before judging any of the profiles to attend to how target factors influenced their liking judgments. Delayed-attention actors received these instructions after judging the first block of profiles and before judging the second. No-attention actors did not receive these instructions at all. After judging the target profiles, actors estimated how each of several target factors had influenced their liking judgments. Access to covariation information greatly increased the accuracy of observers' causal reports. Covariation detection appeared to make less of a contribution, however, to actors' own causal reports, which displayed a substantial level of accuracy even after we controlled statistically for the possible contributions of covariation detection and shared theories. Contrary to expectations, the attention instructions actually decreased the accuracy of actors' self-reports for the first block of judgments but had no effect on accuracy for the second block of judgments. Results show that some form of privileged self-knowledge contributed to the accuracy of actors' causal reports. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)