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Empathy and support exchanges in couples coping with early-stage Alzheimer's disease
Meng Huo, Kyungmin Kim, Karen L Fingerman, Steven H Zarit. Aging & mental health, 2024-03-11
Topic: Health services, long-term care and technology
People with early-stage AD and their spousal caregivers provided support to each other often. Caregivers provided more support but people with AD appraised support provision as more pleasant and less stressful. Lower personal distress in both partners and greater caregiver empathic concern were associated with more frequent caregiver support to people with AD. Greater empathic concern and perspective taking were associated with more pleasant appraisals of helping. Personal distress was positively associated with stress of helping. Findings describe support reciprocity in early-stage AD and debunk the myth of people with AD being only recipients of care. We identify risk and resilience in couples per empathy and inform the design of dyadic interventions to promote mutually beneficial relationships in AD.
Key findings
- People with early-stage AD and their spousal caregivers provided support to each other often.
- Caregivers provided more support but people with AD appraised support provision as more pleasant and less stressful.
- Lower personal distress in both partners and greater caregiver empathic concern were associated with more frequent caregiver support to people with AD.
- Greater empathic concern and perspective taking were associated with more pleasant appraisals of helping.
- Personal distress was positively associated with stress of helping.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 43/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded 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 24 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 43 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Aging & mental health) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2024 — 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 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| 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 38468497) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 24 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 24 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 43 out of 100. |
| Total | 43 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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APA 7th
Huo, M., Kim, K., Fingerman, K. L., & Zarit, S. H. (2024). Empathy and support exchanges in couples coping with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. Aging & mental health. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2326958
Vancouver
Huo M, Kim K, Fingerman KL, Zarit SH. Empathy and support exchanges in couples coping with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. Aging & mental health. 2024. doi:10.1080/13607863.2024.2326958. PMID: 38468497.
BibTeX
@article{huo2024-38468497,
author = {Huo, Meng and Kim, Kyungmin and Fingerman, Karen L and Zarit, Steven H},
title = {{Empathy and support exchanges in couples coping with early-stage Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Aging \& mental health},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1080/13607863.2024.2326958},
pmid = {38468497},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2326958}
}