Harsh communication: characteristics of caregivers and persons with dementia

Objectives: While ways to reduce caregiver burden have dominated dementia care research, there is little understanding of daily communication and its relationship to caregiver burden and depression. In this study, we sought to: (1) describe the frequency of harsh communication used by caregivers; (2...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aging & mental health 2020-10, Vol.24 (10), p.1709-1716
Main Authors: Petrovsky, Darina V., Sefcik, Justine S., Hodgson, Nancy A., Gitlin, Laura N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Behavior
Caregiver burden
Caregivers
caregiving
Communication
Communication skills
Cost of Illness
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dementia
Dementia disorders
Depression - epidemiology
dyad communication
Dyads
Female
harsh communication
Humans
Male
Mental depression
Mental health
Mistreatment
NCT01892579
Regression analysis
Regression models
Sociodemographics
Spouses
Verbal abuse
Women
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Summary:Objectives: While ways to reduce caregiver burden have dominated dementia care research, there is little understanding of daily communication and its relationship to caregiver burden and depression. In this study, we sought to: (1) describe the frequency of harsh communication used by caregivers; (2) examine the relationship between harsh communication, caregiver and person with dementia characteristics; and (3) determine the contributions of caregiver depression and burden on such communication. Method: Cross-sectional baseline data were drawn from 250 dyads, who participated in the Dementia Behavior Study (NCT01892579). Hierarchical linear regression models were used to examine the relationship between dyad characteristics and harsh communication scores (using the 6-item Negative Communication Scale), controlling for three groups of covariates: sociodemographic, relationship characteristics and health factors. Results: More than half of the caregivers (mean age = 65.4, 81.2% women, 45.6% spouses) reported they felt like screaming/yelling (N = 138, 55.2%) or used a harsh tone (N = 129, 51.6%) at persons with dementia (Mini Mental Status Examination mean = 14.3, SD: 7.8) at least sometimes. When controlling for all covariates, for each unit increase in caregiver burden, harsh communication increased by 0.486 units (p 
ISSN:1360-7863
1364-6915
1364-6915
DOI:10.1080/13607863.2019.1667296