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Emotion regulation strategies to improve outcomes in family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: A systematic review
Eva E Dicker, Jenna S Jones, Mark E Kunik, Bryan T Denny. Journal of health psychology, 2025-08-17
Topic: Health services, long-term care and technology
Interventions for family caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) incorporate diverse elements, but drivers of success are unclear. Emotion regulation is vital for adaptive functioning. This systematic review explores how training in emotion regulation strategies affects intervention effectiveness. We hypothesized that the inclusion of adaptive strategies like cognitive reappraisal would be associated with significant outcomes, rather than the number of trained strategies. A systematic review of 31 articles categorized interventions by strategy type utilized and number of intervention strategies included. While most interventions included multiple strategies, cognitive reappraisal was linked to intervention success, with 75% of studies that trained it showing significant results. These findings underscore the importance of integrating contextually flexible emotion regulation strategies, particularly cognitive reappraisal, into interventions targeting ADRD caregivers. By doing so, interventions may better alleviate the psychological impacts of caregiving, enhancing their overall effectiveness in mitigating caregiver burden.
Key findings
- We hypothesized that the inclusion of adaptive strategies like cognitive reappraisal would be associated with significant outcomes, rather than the number of trained strategies.
- While most interventions included multiple strategies, cognitive reappraisal was linked to intervention success, with 75% of studies that trained it showing significant results.
- These findings underscore the importance of integrating contextually flexible emotion regulation strategies, particularly cognitive reappraisal, into interventions targeting ADRD caregivers.
- By doing so, interventions may better alleviate the psychological impacts of caregiving, enhancing their overall effectiveness in mitigating caregiver burden.
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Study details
- Study designsystematic review
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 71/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a systematic review of all the studies on the question. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported and studied in people because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 40 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 71 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of health psychology) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A systematic review of all the studies on the question |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40819234) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 40 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 40 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 71 out of 100. |
| Total | 71 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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APA 7th
Dicker, E. E., Jones, J. S., Kunik, M. E., & Denny, B. T. (2025). Emotion regulation strategies to improve outcomes in family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: A systematic review. Journal of health psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053251354882
Vancouver
Dicker EE, Jones JS, Kunik ME, Denny BT. Emotion regulation strategies to improve outcomes in family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: A systematic review. Journal of health psychology. 2025. doi:10.1177/13591053251354882. PMID: 40819234.
BibTeX
@article{dicker2025-40819234,
author = {Dicker, Eva E and Jones, Jenna S and Kunik, Mark E and Denny, Bryan T},
title = {{Emotion regulation strategies to improve outcomes in family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: A systematic review}},
journal = {Journal of health psychology},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1177/13591053251354882},
pmid = {40819234},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053251354882}
}