Psychological, brain, and hormonal factors associated with caregiver compassion fatigue, burnout, and stress

Abstract Background There are approximately 15 million family caregivers providing care to an individual with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia (Alzheimer's Association, 2015). Caregivers experience significant amounts of stress due to the challenging nature of providing care to older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic 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) investigates the psychological, hormonal, and neural factors that are associated with compassion fatigue, burnout, and stress in caregivers to older adults with Alzheimer’s disease 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 psychological 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. Furthermore, preliminary findings demonstrate variability among caregivers in their cortisol 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 associated 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 psychological, neural, and hormonal variables that may be useful in the development of interventions to improve caregiver well‐being. Reference Alzheimer's Association. (2015). 2015 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures.