# Predicting Risk for Adverse Outcomes in Dementia Caregivers

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2020 · $699,950

## Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) lead to profound cognitive, emotional, and
functional deficits. As the disease progresses, the person with dementia (PWD) becomes increasingly
dependent on a caregiver (CG) for functional, psychological, and economic assistance. Caring for a PWD is a
highly meaningful part of family life but can have adverse consequences for CGs including increased economic
hardships, reduced health and well-being, and greater mortality. When CGs suffer these effects, their ability to
provide high quality care for PWDs can become comprised, leading to an accelerating cycle of decline.
Importantly, beneath these sobering group-level data are striking differences among individual caregivers in
how profoundly they experience adverse effects, which raises the possibility that adverse effects of caregiving
could be predicted, modified, or even prevented. The proposed research focuses on CG risk associated with
emotional functioning in PWDs, CGs, and PWD-CG relationships. This focus reflects the profound impact that
problematic emotional behaviors and psychological symptoms in PWDs have on CGs, the strong links between
emotions and health, and our previous research linking emotional factors with adverse CG outcomes. CGs and
PWDs will undergo a comprehensive, laboratory-based assessment of: (a) emotional reactivity—ability to
generate emotional responses to significant challenges and opportunities; (b) emotion regulation—ability to
adjust emotional responses to meet situational demands; and (c) emotion recognition—ability to detect
emotions accurately in others and respond appropriately. Five studies are proposed to address four specific
aims: Aim 1: To determine how emotional functioning in PWDs, CGs, and PWD-CG relationships is associated
with individual differences in adverse CG outcomes (i.e., lower CG mental health, physical health, and well-
being) during active caregiving (Study 1, N=180) and after caregiving has ended (Study 2, N=200). Aim 2: To
use longitudinal assessments to evaluate hypothesized biological and behavioral pathways connecting risk
factors with adverse CG outcomes during active caregiving (Study 3, N=84 studied for 3 years). Aim 3: To
examine relationships between changes in CG health and PWD mortality (Study 4, N=400). Aim 4: To identify
an optimal set of laboratory-based measures of emotional functioning for predicting adverse CG outcomes
both during and after active caregiving and to determine their incremental validity compared to other
established risk factors and traditional survey measures of emotional functioning (Study 5, N=350). Innovations
include: (a) multidisciplinary approach (psychology, neurology, and nursing); (b) translational application of
laboratory-based methods used in basic affective science methodology to CG research; (c) including CGs of
individuals with both AD and FTD; (d) focusing on interpersonal functioning; (e) examining individual
differences in adverse C...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10012937
- **Project number:** 5R01AG062639-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert Wayne Levenson
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $699,950
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-15 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10012937

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10012937, Predicting Risk for Adverse Outcomes in Dementia Caregivers (5R01AG062639-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10012937. Licensed CC0.

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