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. 2023 Jan;36(1):63-72.
doi: 10.1177/08919887221093359. Epub 2022 Apr 18.

Examining the Impact of Different Components of Sleep Quality on Anxiety Among Family Carers of People with Dementia

Elien Van Hout  1 , Milena Contreras  1 , Eneida Mioshi  1 , Naoko Kishita  1
Affiliations

Examining the Impact of Different Components of Sleep Quality on Anxiety Among Family Carers of People with Dementia

Elien Van Hout et al. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Existing interventions for family carers of people with dementia tend to be less effective for anxiety than for depression. Therefore, identifying factors affecting carer anxiety is important to inform future interventions. This study conducted 2 multiple regression analyses using a sample of 91 family carers. The first regression model (∆R2 = .24), exploring the impact of demographic variables and carer stressors, demonstrated that hours of caring (β = .33) and overall sleep quality (β = .28) were significant predictors of anxiety. To further investigate the impact of sleep quality, the second model (∆R2 = .24) focussed on exploring the differential impact of various components of sleep quality on anxiety. Findings demonstrated that subjective sleep quality (β = .33) and sleep disturbances (β = .22) were significant predictors. Hours of caring per week, subjective sleep quality and sleep disturbances seem to be critical for treating anxiety in family carers. Future studies should investigate whether targeting these variables could improve carer anxiety.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; care burden; caregivers; depression; insomnia; mindfulness.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article

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