Emotion regulation as a potential target for caregiver health interventions: A longitudinal, multilevel investigation into biobehavioral relationships between emotion regulation and health in dementia - Project Summary/Abstract Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) is often associated with risks of psychological distress and chronic, low-grade inflammation, which is a significant predictor of premature aging and mortality. Emotion regulation, the ability to modify our emotional reactions and experiences, is a potentially significant buffer against the adverse health effects of caregiving stress, as it is associated with numerous health (e.g., inflammation, specifically the interleukin-6 proinflammatory cytokine) and well-being (e.g., affect, or emotions) outcomes. Emotion regulation strategies, such as strategies that engage or disengage with the stressor, interact with stressor characteristics, such as severity or frequency, to determine well-being outcomes. However, there is limited research on how emotion responses to stress impact AD/ADRD caregiver health, thereby limiting the efficacy of current caregiver support programs. The proposed study will seek to identify points of intervention that reduce AD/ADRD caregiver health risks in ways that are effective and accessible. Toward this end, the proposed research project investigates how spousal caregivers of persons with AD/ADRD engage in emotion regulation in response to real-world situations and how this is related to caregiver quality of life, negative affect, and inflammation. Understanding the interactive effects of strategies and stress characteristics in AD/ADRD caregivers through rigorous and reproducible methodologies is an innovative approach which can shed light on the predictors underlying caregiver risks, thereby potentially revealing targetable points of intervention. Increasingly personalized emotion regulation interventions could significantly alleviate the adverse effects of emotion dysregulation on immunological functioning in AD/ADRD caregivers. Specific Aims: Aims: (1) Investigate how the use of two commonly assessed types of emotion regulation strategies (engagement-oriented vs. disengagement-oriented) impact AD/ADRD spousal caregivers' daily emotional experiences in relation to stress; (2) Investigate the relationship between trait-like emotion regulation strategy use, inflammation, and quality of life at T1 (baseline) and T2 (6 months post-baseline) and whether these relationships depend upon stress during the 14-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Hypotheses are detailed in the Research Strategy document. Study Design: Concurrent with a funded R01 parent grant (RF1AG075946), 144 AD/ADRD spousal caregivers will be assessed during the T1 baseline visit, where I will measure trait-like emotion regulation, quality of life, and inflammation via circulatory proinflammatory markers (i.e., interleukin-6) from a blood draw; a 13-day EMA measuring momentary affect and stress; and a T2 6-month follow-up measuring the same variables as measured at T1.
