Among the diverse group of interventions developed to help dementia family caregivers cognitive-behavioural approaches show especially promising results. Objectives: This study describes a cognitive-behavioural group intervention aimed principally at the modification of dysfunctional thoughts associated with caregiving (MDTC). The efficacy of the MDTC intervention in reducing caregivers’ depressive symptomatology, together with the frequency and appraisal of problem behaviours, is compared to that of a waiting-list control group (WL). Furthermore, the potential mediating role of the dysfunctional thoughts in the relationship between this intervention and caregivers’ depressive symptomatology is analyzed. Of the 74 dementia caregivers who were randomized to one of two conditions (MDTC and WL), 39 completed the post-intervention assessment. Statistical analyses were performed on an intention-to-treat basis, using last observation carried forward. The results reveal that the MDTC intervention is successful in reducing caregivers’ level of depressive symptomatology and dysfunctional thoughts about caregiving, as well as in modifying their appraisal of their relative's problem behaviours. Furthermore, a mediating role for dysfunctional thoughts was found in the relationship between the MDTC intervention and levels of depressive symptomatology. The relevance of addressing dysfunctional thoughts and cognitive distortions in group interventions with caregivers is highlighted.

Family caregivers of people with dementia often report feelings of guilt. However, the number of studies analyzing guilt and the factors associated with its appearance are scarce. The aim of this s...

Background: The Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) was developed for assessing anxiety in older adults. The objectives of this work were: (a) to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the GAI, and (b) to explore the associations between anxiety and other variables related to emotional distress (depression) and emotion regulation (rumination, experiential avoidance, and emotion suppression).Methods: Three-hundred-and-two people (75.5% female) aged 60 years and over living in the community participated in this study. Anxiety, depression, rumination, suppression and experiential avoidance were measured.Results: Three factors explaining 50.11% of the variance were obtained. The obtained internal consistency for the total scale was 0.91, with alphas ranging between 0.71 and 0.89 for the factors. Significant associations between all the GAI factors, the GAI total score, and depression, rumination, and experiential avoidance were found (all p < 0.01). Women reported higher scores than men for both the GAI total score and for all of the subscales. However, no significant gender differences were found between people with scores higher than the cut-off score for the GAI.Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the Spanish version of the GAI displays good psychometric properties. Further, our data suggest that the scale can be recommended for measuring anxiety in non-clinical older Spanish persons, and may be a useful instrument to be used in research studies aimed at analyzing anxiety and its correlates among older adults.

Caregiver distress is a complex, multicausal phenomenon. Most of the available interventions for caregivers are protocolized or manualized. A case formulation approach may be more appropriate, as it provides the opportunity for assessing and treating specific dysfunctional mechanisms explaining each caregiver's needs and causes of distress, through the design of an individualized modular intervention. In the present study, a randomized controlled study has been done in which a functional analysis-guided modular intervention (FAMI) was developed. The FAMI was compared with two manualized intervention (cognitive-behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy) which have received preliminary support, and a control group (waiting list). Mixed-effect models and clinical significance analyses were performed. Results suggest that all the interventions were effective in reducing depressive and anxious symptomatology at postintervention assessment, with large effect sizes, and with reductions in depression being maintained at follow-up. Regarding anxiety, long-term effects have been found only for the FAMI intervention. Results also suggest positive effects associated with the FAMI intervention in the long term with regards to comorbidity between depressive and anxious symptomatology. FAMI presents great potential for reducing dementia caregivers' levels of distress, being especially effective in maintaining therapeutic effects in the long term. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Comorbid depression and anxiety is linked to worse outcomes such as increased impairment, distress, and morbidity, as well as worse treatment outcomes. Transdiagnostic variables such as cognitive fusion are considered potential factors for explaining comorbidity. The aim of this study was to analyze the differences between symptom profiles of caregivers (comorbid, depressive, anxiety, and subclinical) in terms of demographic and contextual factors, stress variables, and cognitive fusion. Individual interviews were conducted with 553 caregivers of a relative with dementia. Sociodemographic variables, stressors, cognitive fusion, and depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed. Caregivers were grouped into four symptom profiles, comorbid (n = 303), depressed (n = 40) anxiety (n = 86), and subclinical (n = 124), based on their depressive and anxiety symptoms. The likelihood of presenting a comorbid profile relative to the subclinical profile was higher in female caregivers. In addition, higher frequency of disruptive behaviors of the care recipient was a risk factor for presenting a comorbid profile relative to the other three profiles, and higher scores in cognitive fusion were a risk factor of comorbidity relative to the other profiles (anxiety, depressive, and subclinical). The findings suggest that the likelihood of presenting comorbid symptomatology is higher for female caregivers and those reporting higher levels of cognitive fusion and higher frequency of disruptive behaviors. These characteristics may describe a vulnerable profile of dementia family caregivers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).