Grief, Loss and Stress Burden among Spouse Caregivers of the Person with Young-onset Dementia

The effects of young/early-onset dementia are devastating not only for the person who has been diagnosed with young/early-onset dementia, but also for their primary caregivers (de Vugt & Verhey, 2013). The major aim of this study is to focus on the level of grief, loss, and stress burden that are associated with the partner or the spouse caregivers of someone with young-onset dementia. This study has used a previously unanalyzed set of data consisting of 55 partner or spouse young-onset dementia caregivers. Three instruments were used for data collection including the Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory (MMCGI), the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and a self-designed questionnaire. Pearson\u27s product moment Correlation- coefficient (Pearson\u27s r) and Regression analysis were used as the fundamental quantitative methods for data analysis in this study. Results show the major predictors of increasing the level of spouse caregivers\u27 stress burden are changes in caregivers\u27 life due to the caregiving activities combined with a constant sense of responsibility where the Pearson\u27s r=0.83 and 0.87 respectively. Caregivers\u27 emotional loss is strongly correlated with their loss of freedom (r=0.82). The findings indicate that most caregivers are grieving for several reasons most in the study population agreed that these feelings accumulated together and initiated feelings of depression and anxiety among themselves