Abstract
This article discusses the current state of research on the physiological and physical concomitants of caregiving. We offer recommendations about theoretical, empirical, and treatment issues that researchers should consider in future investigations. Important theoretical issues include specifying acute and chronic stress in caregiving research. Empirical issues include sample selection, home versus clinic assessments, the use of experimental probes, moderating and mediating variables, and measurement issues (problems with self-report of health, medical records, physical exams, and lab assessments). Finally, we note that investigators should use this newfound knowledge to target interventions to specific subsets of vulnerable caregivers. In this way, basic research into caregiving, as a model of chronic human stress, can provide more focused approaches to benefit both caregivers and patients.
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Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by the National Institutes of Mental Health, R01-MH43267, R01-MH46015, R01-MH52247; the National Institute on Aging, R01-AG10750, R01-AG09292, R01-AG13305; the National Institutes of Health, Clinical Research Center, M01-RR00037; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, N01-HC85079-85086; and grants R37-MH42096, R01-MH50538, P01-AG11585.
Special thanks are given to five formal caregivers for nurturing the research presented in this issue: Drs. Enid Light, Marcia Ory, Jane Pearson, and Ronald Abeles of the National Institutes of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging, and the Office of the Director, Dr. Norman Anderson.
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Vitaliano, P.P., Schulz, R., Kiecolt-Glaser, J. et al. Research on physiological and physical concomitants of caregiving: Where do we go from here?. ann. behav. med. 19, 117–123 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02883328
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02883328