Journal of Affective Disorders
Volume 90, Issue 1 , Pages 15-20, January 2006

Coping strategies and anxiety in caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease: The LASER-AD study

  • Claudia Cooper

      Affiliations

    • Old Age Psychiatry, University College London, UK
    • ,
  • Cornelius Katona

      Affiliations

    • Old Age Psychiatry, Kent Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences, UK
    • ,
  • Martin Orrell

      Affiliations

    • Department of Mental Health Sciences, University College London, UK
    • ,
  • Gill Livingston

      Affiliations

    • University College London Consultant Psychiatrist, Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust, UK
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Department of Mental Health Sciences, University College London, Archway Campus, Holborn Union Building, Highgate Hill, London, N19 5NL, UK. Tel.: +20 7561 4218; fax: +20 7561 4236.

Received 6 July 2005; accepted 30 August 2005.

Abstract 

Background

Caregivers of people with dementia (CGPD) frequently have anxiety symptoms but little is known about the relationship of anxiety with coping strategies.

Method

126 people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their family caregivers living in the community were recruited from local psychiatric services, the voluntary sector and care homes. Sampling was designed to ensure that the sample was epidemiologically representative in terms of dementia severity, gender and care setting. We used the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to measure anxiety and the Brief COPE to measure coping strategies.

Results

Use of dysfunctional coping strategies (Wald=7.3, p=0.007) and HADS depression caseness (Wald=14.0, p<0.001) were the only factors that predicted HADS anxiety caseness on logistic regression.

Limitations

Anxious caregivers may be more likely to report their coping strategies negatively; these results do not clarify direction of causality.

Conclusions

Dysfunctional coping strategies and depression appear to be the most important factors predicting caregiver anxiety. Addressing coping strategies may be a helpful intervention for managing caregiver anxiety.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Caregiver, Anxiety, Coping

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PII: S0165-0327(05)00303-4

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2005.08.017

Journal of Affective Disorders
Volume 90, Issue 1 , Pages 15-20, January 2006

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