Predictors of Anticipatory Grief in Dementia Caregivers

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Abstract
The current study examines several indicators of dementia severity and their relationship to anticipatory grief (AG) to investigate which aspects of the caregiving situation may lead to greater levels of AG. Eighty informal dementia caregivers completed interviews and questionnaires assessing their experiences, and regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between primary stressors (disease stage, hours of weekly care, ADL and IADL impairments and behavior problems) and AG. Results revealed that behavior problems were the only variable which was significantly associated with AG, and follow-up analyses revealed that adult child and spouse caregivers responded differently to different types of behavior problems. Overall, the grief experiences of dementia caregivers appear to be more strongly related to behavioral problems than other indicators of disease severity.

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