Upsetting social interactions and distress among Alzheimer's disease family care‐givers: A replication and extension

Abstract

Although several studies have suggested that negative aspects of relationships have a greater impact on mood than positive elements, the individuals in these studies have been victims of life crises. To assess the generality of these findings, social support and mood data were collected from two well-matched groups that differed with respect to the presence of a chronic stressor in their lives. The 34 family care-givers for Alzheimer's disease victims and 34 comparison persons (non-care-givers) did not differ in the frequency of contacts, the closeness of their relationships, or ratings of the helpfulness or upset associated with the relationships. However, while upset accounted for a significant portion of the variance in care-givers' depressive symptoms in regression equations, neither upset nor helpfulness was significantly related to mood in non-care-givers. Care-givers whose relatives had more symptomatic Alzheimer's disease behaviors were more distressed and described their relationships with others as more upsetting. Implications for interventions and for the contextual importance of upsetting or negative support are discussed.