Background: Studies increasingly suggest that chronic exposure to psychological stress can lead to health deterioration and accelerated ageing, thus possibly contributing to the development of frailty. Recent approaches based on the deficit accumulation model measure frailty on a continuous grading through the "Frailty Index" (FI), i.e. a macroscopic indicator of biological senescence and functional status.
Objectives: The study aimed at testing the relationship of FI with caregiving, psychological stress, and psychological resilience.
Design: Cross-sectional study, with case-control and correlational analyses.
Participants: Caregivers of patients with dementia (n=64), i.e. individuals a priori considered to be exposed to prolonged psychosocial stressors, and matched controls (n=64) were enrolled.
Measurements: The two groups were compared using a 38-item FI condensing biological, clinical, and functional assessments. Within caregivers, the association of FI with Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) was tested.
Results: Caregivers had higher FI than controls (F=8.308, p=0.005). FI was associated directly with PSS (r=0.660, p<0.001) and inversely with BRS (r=-0.637, p<0.001). Findings remained significant after adjusting for certain confounding variables, after excluding from the FI the conditions directly related to psychological stress, and when the analyses were performed separately among participants older and younger than 65 years.
Conclusions: The results provide insight on the relationship of frailty with caregiving, psychological stress, and resilience, with potential implications for the clinical management of individuals exposed to chronic emotional strain.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.14283/jfa.2021.29 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Effects of laughter yoga practiced by the first year nursing students before clinical practice on their perceptions of stress and meaning of life: a randomized controlled trial.
BMC Nurs
January 2025
Turgutlu State Hospital, Turgutlu, Manisa, 45400, Turkey.
Article Synopsis
- Laughter yoga shows benefits for mental health, life satisfaction, and stress coping skills.
- A study involving 90 first-year nursing students examined its impact on stress perception and life meaning through pre-and post-tests after an intervention of eight laughter yoga sessions over four weeks.
- Results indicate significant improvements in perceived stress and sense of life purpose among students who participated in laughter yoga.
A cross-sectional study on posttraumatic growth and influencing factors among parents of premature infants.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth
January 2025
Nursing Department, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, 518026, China.
Article Synopsis
- Preterm birth significantly impacts parents' mental health, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) can help them cope with this trauma, though research on PTG in this context is limited.
- A study involving 160 parents in Shenzhen, China, found that most had low to medium PTG levels, with influences like older gestational age, higher Apgar scores, positive coping styles, and better social support correlating with higher PTG.
- The findings highlight the importance of social support and effective coping mechanisms in fostering PTG among parents dealing with the challenges of having a preterm infant.
The role of ferroptosis and oxidative stress in cognitive deficits among chronic schizophrenia patients: a multicenter investigation.
Schizophrenia (Heidelb)
January 2025
Xinjiang Clinical Medical Research Center of Mental Health, State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention, and Treatment of High Incidence Diseases in Central Asia, The Psychological Medicine Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China.
Oxidative stress (OS) is crucial in schizophrenia (SCZ) pathology. Ferroptosis, a recently discovered cell death pathway linked to OS, might contribute to the development of SCZ. This study investigated the association between ferroptosis markers and cognitive impairments in chronic SCZ patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcademic burnout among Chinese college students: A study based on FSQCA method.
Acta Psychol (Amst)
January 2025
Guilin University of Aerospace Technology, Guilin 541004, China. Electronic address:
Academic burnout is a common phenomenon among Chinese college students, which can have a negative impact on students' academic performance and even the entire higher education industry. Existing literature has pointed out that the situation of academic burnout among Chinese college students is severe, and the prevalence of academic burnout is worrying. As previous studies on academic burnout among college students analyze the impact of a single factor on academic burnout, which is limited by the combined effect of multiple factors, this article uses FSQCA method to empirically explore how five antecedent conditions (academic stress, academic anxiety, lack of academic self-efficacy, Internet addiction, and loneliness) lead to this phenomenon from configuration perspective.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPersonalized stress optimization intervention to reduce adolescents' anxiety: A randomized controlled trial leveraging machine learning.
J Anxiety Disord
January 2025
School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. Electronic address:
Anxiety symptoms are among the most prevalent mental health disorders in adolescents, highlighting the need for scalable and accessible interventions. As anxiety often co-occurs with perceived stress during adolescence, stress interventions may offer a promising approach to reducing anxiety. Previous stress interventions have largely focused on the view that stress is harmful, aiming to manage and mitigate its negative effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!