Browsing by Author "Judge, Katherine"

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    The Relationship Between COVID 19 Anxiety and Dementia Caregivers Burden and Suffering
    (Oxford University Press, 2021) Lucas, Kaitlyn; Batista-Malat, Eleanor; Park, Seho; Johns, Shelly; Fowler, Nicole; Judge, Katherine; Biostatistics, School of Public Health
    The impact of COVID-19 on dementia caregivers is gaining new interest. It is unknown how the pandemic has impacted caregivers’ burden and existential suffering. Analyses were performed on data for dementia caregivers (n=89) enrolled in the Indiana University Telephone Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Caregivers (TACTICs) pilot trials. Individuals were primary caregivers of a family member with dementia and had clinically significant anxiety measured by a GAD-7 score >10 or between 5-9 with reported interference in life. COVID-19 anxiety was measured using the NIH CoRonavIruS Health Impact Survey (CRISIS) questions. Caregivers were on average 55.2 years of age with 56.2% being child or child-in-law, 71.9% were white and 24.7% were Black. Mean burden scores, measured by the Zarit Burden Index, were higher (44.29) compared to means reported across the literature (26.7) indicating the sample experienced higher than normal levels of burden. Mean existential suffering scores measured by the subscale of Experience of Suffering Scale were lower (9.37) compared to means across the literature (11.5) indicating that overall participants experienced lower levels of existential suffering compared to those in previous studies. A significant relationship was found between COVID-19 anxiety and burden levels (x2= 9.07, p<0.05), with higher levels of COVID-19 anxiety associated with greater burden. A non-significant relationship was found between COVID-19 anxiety and existential suffering (x2=5.99, p=0.11). Results highlight the impact of COVID-19 anxiety as an external stressor on dementia caregiving. and the importance of considering context of external stressors when implementing intervention protocols for caregivers of individuals with dementia.
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    The Relationship Between Family Caregivers’ Anticipatory Grief and Severity of Dementia
    (Oxford University Press, 2021-12-17) Gavin, Nicole; Shan, Mu; Johns, Shelly; Judge, Katherine; Fowler, Nicole; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Anticipatory grief is the process of experiencing normal bereavement before the physical death of a significant person. To date, anticipatory grief has been related to higher levels of caregiver depression, anxiety, subjective burden, and poorer problem solving. Additionally, higher levels anticipatory grief are observed in caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) compared to caregivers of those with mild cognitive impairment, implying a relationship between disease severity and caregiver anticipatory grief. Analyses were performed on data for ADRD caregivers (n=56) enrolled in the IU Telephone Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Caregiver (TACTICs) trial; an RCT evaluating an ACT intervention for ADRD caregivers with anxiety. Inclusion criteria included identifying as the primary caregiver of an ADRD patient, and clinically significant anxiety (GAD7 score >10). The average age of caregivers was 61.9 years, 41.1% were spouses, 83.9% were white and 14.3% were black. Mean anticipatory grief scores were notably higher (84.6) compared to the previously reported means across the literature (74.9). Using multiple regression models, we determined a caregivers’ anticipatory grief, as measured by the anticipatory grief scale, is not significantly associated with the patients’ dementia severity, as measured by the Dementia Severity Rating Scale (DSRS) (p=0.66), Results revealed that higher levels of caregiver burden, as measured by the Zarit Burden Index, are significantly associated with more anticipatory grief (p< 0.01). Understanding these relationships contributes to a better understanding of ADRD caregivers, identifying “high-risk” caregivers, and informing future interventions and care.
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    The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Disadvantage And Dementia Caregiver Burden
    (Oxford University Press, 2022) Beverly, Alexis; Baucco, Christina; Park, Seho; Schroeder, Matthew; Johns, Shelley; Judge, Katherine; Fowler, Nicole; Biostatistics and Health Data Science, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    More than 16 million people provide unpaid care to someone with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia (ADRD) in the United States. These caregivers frequently report experiencing psychological and physical burden. Prior research shows that socioeconomic disadvantaged neighborhoods have higher rates of ADRD, but little is known about caregiver burden. We hypothesized more socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with higher caregiver burden. We performed a secondary analysis using baseline data on dementia caregivers (n=132) enrolled in the Indiana University Telephone Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Caregivers (TACTICs) pilot trials. Mean (SD) caregiver age was 61.6 (11.6) years; 83.3% women; 78.8% white; 19.7% black. Seventy-two percent of the caregivers lived with the care recipient and 50.8% reported moderate dementia severity. A linear regression model examined the relationship between caregiver’s national Area Deprivation Index (ADI) score (ranging from 1–100 with higher scores indicating greater socioeconomic disadvantage) and caregiver burden. The following covariates were included: age, sex, race, education, shared residence with care-recipient, health status, anxiety, depression, and dementia severity of care recipient. Higher ADI was associated with lower caregiver burden (β=-0.222, p < 0.001). Caregiver burden has a significant negative relationship with ADI and dementia severity (p<-.001 and 0.046, respectively) and positive relationship with anxiety (p=0.014) controlling other covariates in the model. Although we found no support for the hypothesis, further research should examine these factors with how caregiver’s ADI may impact other psychosocial wellbeing outcomes. Discussion will highlight the need for caregivers to have access to resources that can aid them through their experience.