Stress and Blood Pressure in Dementia Caregivers: The Moderator Role of Mindfulness.

Objective: Dementia caregiving has been described as a chronically stressful situation with adverse cardiovascular effects. Psychological resources such as mindfulness may reduce the impact of stress on caregivers' cardiovascular health. The objective of this study was to analyze the moderating effect of trait mindfulness on the relationship between frequency of disruptive behaviors of the care recipient and blood pressure (BP) in dementia caregivers. Method: Participants were 110 dementia family caregivers. Two hierarchical regressions (for systolic and diastolic BP) were conducted to analyze whether mindfulness moderates the relationship between disruptive behaviors and BP after controlling for known predictors of cardiovascular outcomes. Results: A significant moderator effect of mindfulness was found between the frequency of disruptive behaviors and diastolic BP (ß = -.195, p < .05). Among those caregivers reporting low levels of mindfulness, the relationship between frequency of disruptive behaviors and diastolic BP was relatively stronger than among those reporting high mindfulness levels. Conclusions: The results suggest that a high level of trait mindfulness may have protective effect on BP when caregivers face high levels of stress. Clinical Implications: Mindfulness seems to be an important variable with potential for buffering the effects of caregiving stressors on caregivers' blood pressure.

Diseño y validación de las escalas de evaluación del impacto psicológico de sucesos vitales pasados: el papel del pensamiento rumiativo y el crecimiento personal / Design and validation of the scales for the assessment of the psychological impact of past life events: the role of ruminative thought and personal growth

Introducción. El malestar emocional de las personas mayores se relaciona frecuentemente con procesos de rumiación acerca de episodios vitales acaecidos a lo largo de su vida. El tipo de afrontamiento desplegado ante tales episodios podría contribuir a explicar el bienestar emocional actual de las personas mayores: pueden percibir que han crecido personalmente tras el episodio y/o pueden presentar pensamientos rumiativos sobre tales episodios, que generan malestar emocional. Este trabajo describe el desarrollo y análisis de las propiedades psicométricas de las escalas de evaluación del impacto psicológico de sucesos vitales pasados (EEIPSV): la escala de ocurrencia de sucesos vitales (EO), la escala de pensamiento rumiativo (EPR) y la escala de crecimiento personal (ECP). Material y métodos. Participaron 393 personas mayores no institucionalizadas, residentes en la comunidad de Madrid (edad media: 71,5 años; DE: 6,9). Además de las EEIPSV, se evaluaron las variables: sintomatología depresiva, ansiedad, bienestar psicológico, satisfacción con la vida, función física y vitalidad. Resultados. Los resultados del análisis interjueces sugieren la existencia de 2 factores en la EO: sucesos positivos y negativos. Los análisis factoriales confirmatorios respaldan esta estructura bidimensional tanto para la escala EPR como la ECP. Se obtuvieron buenos índices de consistencia interna para cada escala y subescala, así como buenos índices de validez de criterio y convergente. Conclusiones. Tanto el pensamiento rumiativo sobre sucesos vitales pasados como el crecimiento personal se relacionan con el bienestar emocional de las personas mayores. Las EEIPSV presentan buenas propiedades psicométricas que justifican su uso con población mayor(AU)

Introduction. Older people's emotional distress is often related to rumination processes focused on past vital events occurred during their lives. The specific coping strategies displayed to face those events may contribute to explain older adults’ current well-being: they can perceive that they have obtained personal growth after those events and/or they can show a tendency to have intrusive thoughts about those events. This paper describes the development and analysis of the psychometric properties of the Scales for the Assessment of the Psychological Impact of Past Life Events (SAPIPLE): the past life events-occurrence scale (LE-O), ruminative thought scale (LE-R) and personal growth scale (LE-PG). Material and methods. Participants were 393 community dwelling elderly (mean age=71.5 years old; SD=6.9). In addition to the SAPIPLE scales, depressive symptomatology, anxiety, psychological well-being, life satisfaction, physical function and vitality have been assessed. Results. The inter-rater agreement's analysis suggests the presence of two factors in the LE-O: positive and negative vital events. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) supported this two-dimensional structure for both the LE-R and the LE-PG. Good internal consistency indexes have been obtained for each scale and subscale, as well as good criterion and concurrent validity indexes. Conclusions. Both ruminative thoughts about past life events and personal growth following those events are related to older adults’ current well-being. The SAPIPLE presents good psychometric properties that justify its use for elderly people(AU)