DOI: 10.1002/alz.

046020

D E M E N T I A C A R E A N D P S YC H O S O C I A L FA C TO R S
POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Dementia care research (research projects; nonpharmacological)/Family/Lay caregiving

Psychological, brain, and hormonal factors associated with

caregiver compassion fatigue, burnout, and stress

Janelle Beadle1 Angela Gifford2

1
University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE,
USA Abstract
2
University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, Background: There are approximately 15 million family caregivers providing care to
NE, USA
an individual with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia (Alzheimer’s Associa-
Correspondence tion, 2015). Caregivers experience significant amounts of stress due to the challeng-
Janelle Beadle, University of Nebraska Omaha, ing nature of providing care to older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic
Omaha, NE, USA.
Email: jbeadle@unomaha.edu conditions. These stressors have been linked to dysregulation of hormones which can
put caregivers at risk for a variety of diseases and can also negatively impact the brain.
The present study (funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences) inves-
tigates the psychological, hormonal, and neural factors that are associated with com-
passion fatigue, burnout, and stress in caregivers to older adults with Alzheimer’s dis-
ease or other chronic conditions.
Method: The present study will characterize factors associated with greater caregiver
compassion fatigue, burnout and stress through three aims: (1) Identify psychologi-
cal and demographic factors; (2) Assess differences in brain network connectivity; (3)
Measure differences in hormonal reactivity in response to emotional situations. The
study is currently in the enrollment stage, and we are anticipating approximately 60
subjects by the end of the third year of the study.
Result: Because our study is still on-going, we will discuss our preliminary results
and anticipated outcomes. Pilot results show that caregivers report higher levels of
momentary (state) empathy than non-caregivers across different social contexts. Fur-
thermore, preliminary findings demonstrate variability among caregivers in their cor-
tisol reactivity to others’ suffering is linked to variability in prosocial behavior towards
others. Other anticipated outcomes include that trait empathy will be associated with
compassion fatigue, and that differences in connectivity between brain networks asso-
ciated with stress and emotion will be associated with compassion fatigue and burnout.
Conclusion: The results from this study will advance our understanding of key factors
associated with compassion fatigue, burnout, and stress in caregivers to older adults
with Alzheimer’s disease or other chronic conditions. This study will identify psycho-
logical, neural, and hormonal variables that may be useful in the development of inter-
ventions to improve caregiver well-being.
References: Alzheimer’s Association. (2015). 2015 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Fig-
ures.

Alzheimer’s Dement. 2020;16(Suppl. 7):e046020. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/alz © 2020 the Alzheimer’s Association 1 of 1

https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.046020