Dr. Natasha Bibriescas – Caregiving for individuals with dementia is a dynamic experience characterized by daily variations in stress and mental health.
Dr. Bibriescas will present on the current study investigating the effectiveness of various recruitment strategies, the feasibility of daily diary data collection, and mental health trajectories from the Nuestros Días (Our Days) Study. A total of 180 participants completed 21 consecutive days of daily diary surveys at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Digital marketing was found to be the most effective recruitment strategy (76.5% of total enrollments) and completion rates of daily dairy surveys were consistently high across the three waves (82-86%). Preliminary multilevel mixture modeling identified three distinct depression and anxiety trajectories: 1) caregivers with high symptoms that decreased over time, 2) caregivers with high symptoms that increased over time, and 3) caregivers with consistently low symptoms. Overall, the findings demonstrate the feasibility of intensive longitudinal data collection and meaningful variability in caregiver mental health over time.
Sofia Mildrum Chana – A Preliminary Examination of Social Media Use Among Hispanic/Latinx Dementia Caregivers.
Sofía will present findings from her dissertation study examining social media (SNS – social networking sites) use among Hispanic and Latinx (H&L) dementia caregivers and its effects on mental health. Using daily diary data from 157 caregivers in the ongoing national-level Nuestros Días (Our Days) study, she explored how daily variations in passive and active SNS use were associated with daily depressive and anxiety symptoms. Participants reported using SNS for an average of 152.53 minutes (SD=69.66) daily. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that greater passive SNS use (i.e., consumption of SNS content without active engagement) was associated with higher daily symptoms of depression (B=0.75, p<.001) and anxiety (B=0.66, p<.01), while active SNS use (i.e., engagement with content and deliberate interaction with other users) showed no significant associations. These findings highlight the high prevalence of SNS use among H&L caregivers and the potential risks of passive SNS use for mental well-being. This is the first study to date to examine these associations in H&L caregivers, and its findings can inform the development and implementation of culturally relevant interventions to support caregiver well-being in digital-based spaces.
Nury Alejandra Rodriguez Colmenares – Hispanic and Latino Dementia Caregiver Coping and Associations with Daily Stress, Depression, and Anxiety.
Alejandra will present on Hispanic and Latino (H&L) caregivers of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) who experience significant emotional and psychological strain. Little is known about how their coping strategies influence daily mental health. Coping strategies can help H&L family ADRD caregivers to prevent or moderate the consequences of stress on their mental health. Although coping is often associated with effectiveness, certain coping strategies may inadvertently intensify stress or exacerbate its impact on H&L family ADRD caregivers’ mental health. Therefore, this study examined coping strategies used by H&L caregivers and associations with daily stress, depression, and anxiety symptoms. Data from 166 participants were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The findings suggest that the use of dysfunctional coping strategies increase depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and caregiving related stress. Further, compared to adult children caregivers, those caregivers taking care of a biological grandparent, step-grandparent or grandparent-in-law have higher caregiving related stress. Overall, the findings demonstrate that coping strategies significantly shape caregivers’ psychological well-being. Future studies need to identify the daily variations in the use of coping strategies within the H&L family ADRD caregivers and how these influence their mental health outcomes over time.
Dr. Abbey Poe – Financial Decision-Making Involvement and Daily Anxiety & Depressive Symptoms among Hispanic & Latinx Dementia Caregivers
Dr. Poe will present on Hispanic & Latino (H&L) caregivers of persons living with dementia (PLWD) who experience high levels of caregiver burden, poor mental health outcomes, and involved in direct care of the PLWD. Limited research has examined H&L caregivers’ involvement in everyday decisions of the PLWD, particularly how this involvement may be associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms on a given day. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between H&L caregiver involvement in everyday decisions and daily anxiety and depressive symptoms. Linear mixed level model was conducted on the first 100 H&L caregivers to complete the Decision-Making Involvement Scale from the Nuestros Dias study. Results indicated overall H&L caregiver involvement in the PLWD’s everyday decisions was not associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms on a given day. However, further analyses on the Decision-Making Involvement Scale subdomains suggest increased involvement in everyday financial decisions for the PLWD is associated with increased anxiety and depressive symptoms on a given day. Overall, these findings suggest that H&L caregiver involvement in everyday financial decisions for the PLWD may have more influence on caregiver well-being than overall decision-making involvement.
