Cognitive-behavioural group therapy improves a psychophysiological marker of stress in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Aging Ment Health
; 18(6): 801-8, 2014.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24499394
BACKGROUND: Family caregivers of patients with dementia frequently experience psychological stress, depression and disturbed psychophysiological activity, with increased levels of diurnal cortisol secretion. OBJECTIVES: To compare the effects of a cognitive-behavioural group therapy (CBT) to a psychoeducation group programme (EDUC) on cortisol secretion in caregivers of patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHOD: Caregivers of AD outpatients were semi-randomly allocated to one of two intervention programmes (CBT or EDUC) consisting of eight weekly sessions. Twenty-six participants completed the study. Before and after intervention, salivary cortisol was collected at four different times of the day. Effects of the interventions were evaluated with self-report psychological scales and questionnaires related to functional abilities and neuropsychiatric symptoms of the AD relative. RESULTS: Only in the CBT group did salivary cortisol levels significantly decrease after intervention, with a large effect size and high achieved power. Both groups reported a reduction of neuropsychiatric symptoms of their AD relative after intervention. CONCLUSION: Psychoeducation for caregivers may contribute to a reduction of neuropsychiatric symptoms of AD patients while CBT additionally attenuates psychophysiological responses to stressful situations in caregivers, by reducing diurnal cortisol levels. This may lead to a positive impact in the general health of the caregiver, eventually resulting in better care of the AD patient.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Psicoterapia de Grupo
/
Estresse Psicológico
/
Hidrocortisona
/
Terapia Cognitivo-Comportamental
/
Cuidadores
/
Doença de Alzheimer
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Qualitative_research
Limite:
Aged
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Female
/
Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Brasil
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Aging Ment Health
Assunto da revista:
GERIATRIA
/
PSICOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Suíça
País de publicação:
Reino Unido