The longitudinal effects of early behavior problems in the dementia caregiving career

Using multiregional, 3-year data from early career dementia caregivers, this study determines how behavior problems that occur early in the caregiving career influence time to nursing home placement and change in burden and depression over time. A Cox proportional hazards model indicated that caregivers who managed frequent behavior problems earlier are more likely to institutionalize. After controlling for important time-varying covariates in a series of growth-curve models, caregivers who were faced with severe, early behavior problems reported greater increases in burden and depression over the 3-year study period. The findings suggest the need to consider experiences early in the dementia caregiving career when accounting for key longitudinal outcomes and also emphasize the importance of attrition when attempting to model the health implications of informal long-term care over time.