Agreement in perceptions of care by older care recipients and their caregivers

Problem. Based on Time 1 data from the Family Relationships in Late Life (FRILL 2) Project, information was collected at research sites in Pittsburgh, PA, Athens, GA, and Tuscaloosa, AL from over 400 caregiver (CG) and care recipient (CR) dyads. One objective of the study is to obtain a profile of the quality of care given to older persons by their informal CGs. Approach. Analysis of interview data from both CRs and their CGs investigated agreement on identical measures regarding the nature and quality of care given to CRs. Summary of Findings. Substantial disagreement was evident in correlational analyses. In contrast to CG responses, CRs perceived themselves to be in better overall health, able to perform more ADLs, to need less medical care, to be more socially isolated, and to experience more financial exploitation and potentially harmful behaviors. Although CGs perceived more physical neglect, CGs believed that they offered better care than did CRs. Conclusions. Explanations will be offered for the low level of agreement in information provided by CRs and their CGs.Poster Presentatio

The characteristics of FRILL 2 caregivers by race and gender

The FRILL 2 project, with sites in Athens, GA, Pittsburgh, PA, and Tuscaloosa, AL and funded by a grant from NIA, is a longitudinal study of the experiences of family caregivers (CGs) of older persons. The study, guided by a modified stress and coping model that includes adverse CG outcomes (i.e., abuse, exploitation), recently completed wave 1 interviews with 434 CG/care recipient (CR) dyads. This study examined characteristics of the FRILL 2 CGs and significant differences in their experiences on a gender-by-race basis for the 133 African American female (AAF), 57 African American male (AAM), 169 White female (WF), and 75 White male (WM) CGs. Differences are categorized by Demographic Characteristics (e.g. CG age, income adequacy), Predisposing Variables (e.g., religious coping, instrumental support), Caregiver Mental Health Variables (e.g., resentment, depression), and Quality of Care Variables (e.g., Physical Neglect, Exemplary Care). There were significant differences between male and female CGs as well as differences by race within each gender group. For example, WFs were more likely to isolate CR and had more caregiving resentment. AAFs suffered from anxiety and anger, yet scored high in exemplary care. WMs had lower stress scores and lower levels of perceived instrumental support. AAMs scored higher on communal behavior, yet reported more financial exploitation.Poster Presentatio

Retaining foster parents: factors influencing retention and attrition

The objective of this study was to uncover factors that contributed to the decision to continue or stop foster parenting from a social exchange theory perspective. The study sample consisted of 53 former foster parents and 101 current foster parents. Participants completed a survey designed to examine how four variables--quality and availability of services to support foster care provision, respect and recognition given by caseworkers, financial assistance and work benefits, and crisis response of caseworkers--related to foster parents' decisions to continue or give up fostering. The first research hypothesis was that high or low satisfaction for these variables would predict those who continued to foster and those who had quit, respectively. Logistic regression analysis did not support this hypothesis. Further examination of those participants who had stopped fostering identified an over-representation of those who had fostered in order to adopt, a problem for the study since this group may not have set out to foster long term. Those participants were selected out and further analyses were conducted comparing mean scores of those who quit (and presumably were not fostering to adopt) and those still fostering. This further analysis also failed to support the hypothesis. The second hypothesis was that those who were still fostering and who indicated a commitment to continue would evidence higher satisfaction on the four variables. A within-group analysis employing simple regression supported a directional relationship between commitment to continue and all variables, except perceived satisfaction with financial assistance and work benefits. The report concludes with a discussion and possible explanations for the findings and potential policy implications. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Family members with mental health problems caring for older relatives: Implications for them and the care recipient

Little has been reported about caregiving dynamics when the identified caregiver experiences mental health problems (MHCG). This paper presents findings from a study examining the reported experience of family caregivers providing care to elders when the caregiver has a mental health problem. Funded by an RO1 grant from the National Institute on Aging, the second Family Relations in Later Life project is a five year study of long-term caregiving to older persons. A total of 444 caregiving dyads recruited from three areas of the U.S. were administered 18 standardized measures related to the caregiving experience. We found that 18% of the caregivers reported having identified psychiatric problems and in 5% of the dyads both the caregiver and care recipient experienced psychiatric problems. Care recipients of MH caregivers reported being less socially isolated and receiving more instrumental support from their caregivers than did non-MH care recipients. MH caregivers reported higher levels of resentment concerning caregiving activities and more frequent angry responses to caregiving situations than the control group. For all caregivers who reported seeking mental health treatment, 79% were MH caregivers. However, only 30% of the MH caregivers had sought mental health treatment within the past year. Persons with mental health problems providing care to family members are believed to do so at their own risk, as caregiving duties can exacerbate their MH problems and may deter them from seeking needed services. Identifying the needs of MH caregivers may avert their own decline as well as those of the care recipients.Poster Presentatio

An examination of the relationship between adult psychopathy and childhood trauma in a jail sample

Psychopathy is a constellation of maladaptive personality traits such as callousness, manipulativeness, pathological lying, a lack of empathy, and superficial charm (Cleckley, 1941; Hare, 2003), which has been associated with both genetic and environmental etiological factors (e.g., Blair, Peschardt, Budhani, Mitchell, & Pine, 2006). Although genetic variation may be responsible for the many neurobiological factors associated with psychopathy, these studies clearly indicate that environmental risk factors for psychopathy should not be neglected. One such risk factor is childhood trauma, which for the purposes of this investigation will be focused on childhood physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, neglect, and witnessing domestic violence. Although we know that childhood trauma is associated with psychopathy (e.g., Verona et al., 2005; Rock, 2012), we know little about the mechanisms through which this relationship occurs. I examined the associations between five childhood trauma subtypes and total psychopathy as well as its four facets (affective, interpersonal, antisocial, lifestyle) in this study. I also investigated the possibility of insecure parental attachment, disinhibition, negative emotionality, and fearlessness as mediators, and gender, race, SES, disinhibition, and fearlessness as moderators in these associations. Two-hundred twenty men and women from the Tuscaloosa County Jail participated in the study. They completed interviews as well as questionnaires that assessed for psychopathy, trauma, and various other factors. The findings suggest that psychological abuse, physical abuse, and witnessing domestic violence all directly predict psychopathy, and that sexual abuse is negatively associated with psychopathy. There was no evidence for mediation or moderation. These results are important as they shed light on the etiology of psychopathy, and suggest that there are no differences in the association between childhood trauma and adult psychopathy, regardless of gender, race, and SES. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries