Cognitive and Health Benefits of Expressive Writing for Family Caregivers Under Stress
- Conditions
- Stress, PsychologicalAnxiety
- Registration Number
- NCT00303147
- Lead Sponsor
- University of Toronto
- Brief Summary
The purpose of this study is to determine if expressive writing is an effective intervention for reducing stress, enhancing cognition, and improving quality of life for caregivers of older adults with dementia
- Detailed Description
A significant and growing need exists to support caregivers of older adults with dementia, including methods of support that are easily implemented and targeted at caregivers who can not access multicomponent interventions. The current intervention examines the efficacy of one such approach: expressive writing (EW).
We are examining the efficacy of EW, in terms of its ability to reduce stress, enhance cognition, and improve well-being, by comparing it to two control conditions: objective writing about how caregivers spend their time (time management; TM) and objective writing about non-personal historical events (history writing; HW).
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- UNKNOWN
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 120
- Primary family caregiver for an older adult with dementia
- Self-reported caregiver stress or burden
- Fluency in written/spoken English
- non-family or non-primary caregiver
- existing use of expressive writing / diary
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Ruff 2 & 7 Selective Attention Test General Health Questionnaire Impact of Events Scale Zarit Burden Interview (short form) California Verbal Learning Test Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
University of Toronto
🇨🇦Toronto, Ontario, Canada