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When the Care Ends: Emotional State of Spanish Bereaved Caregivers of Persons with Dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2013

María Crespo ,
Ana T. Piccini  and
Mónica Bernaldo-de-Quirós
María Crespo*
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
Ana T. Piccini
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
Mónica Bernaldo-de-Quirós
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to María Crespo. Univesidad Complutense de Madrid. Facultad de Psicología. Campus de Somosaguas s/n. 28223. Madrid (Spain). Phone +34–913943122. Email: mcrespo@psi.ucm.es
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Abstract

Several researchers have found that caring for relatives with dementia has negative consequences on the caregiver’s physical and emotional health during the caregiving period. However, less attention has been paid to caregiver´s emotional state after the patient´s death. The aims of this study are 1) to evaluate the emotional state of the Spanish former caregivers after the care recipient death, and 2) to analyze the patient’s death circumstances and their influence in the current emotional state of caregivers. The sample was composed of 50 former caregivers of relatives diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The dependent variables were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory and the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief. Most of the caregivers did not develop a complicated grief or depressive symptoms. However, caregivers are not uniform in their responses to bereavement. Specifically, grief was higher in spouses than in adult child, even after controlling the effect of gender and age. Furthermore, this study provides first evidence of the positive relationship between saying good-bye to the patient and caregivers’ emotional status.

Keywords

depressiongriefdementiacaregivers
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 16 , 2013 , E97
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2013 

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Footnotes

Our thanks to all the caregivers involved in this study and specially to Fundación Alzheimer España and AFA Campo de Gibraltar (Algeciras-Cadiz), Asociación Alzheimer y Demencias Afines Conde García (Linares, Jaén), FADESIA (Girona), AFA Talavera de la Reina (Toledo), AFA Valdepeñas (Ciudad Real) and AFA Zamora. This research has been conducted on 2009–2010 under a contract (article 83) between Univesidad Complutense de Madrid and Fundación Alzheimer España, who founded the study. Fundación Alzheimer España also provided access to the participants in the study.

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