Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37428734›Full record

ArticlePsychology and aging2023

The role of caregiving in cognitive function and change: The REGARDS study.

Joanne Elayoubi, Monica E Nelson, Christina X Mu, William E Haley, Virginia G Wadley, Olivio J Clay, Michael Crowe, Mary Cushman, Joan S Grant, David L Roth and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychology and aging, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Associations between occupational trajectories at ages 35-55 and later-life cognition in older adults in Chile.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026
    Article
  2. When family caregiving happens: life-course timing and health outcomes in later life.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026
    Article
  3. Burden and well-being among dementia caregivers in Puerto Rico: the role of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026
    Article
  4. Longitudinal impact of transition to caregiving on cognitive functioning: a matched case-control study.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Joanne ElayoubiDepartment of Aging Studies, University of South Florida.ORCID 0000-0002-0591-9142
Monica E NelsonDepartment of Aging Studies, University of South Florida.
Christina X MuDepartment of Aging Studies, University of South Florida.
William E HaleyDepartment of Aging Studies, University of South Florida.
Virginia G WadleyDepartment of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Olivio J ClayDepartment of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.ORCID 0000-0002-7529-6120
Michael CroweDepartment of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.ORCID 0000-0001-7736-4441
Mary CushmanDepartment of Medicine, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont.
Joan S GrantDepartment of Nursing, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
David L RothDepartment of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins University.
Ross AndelDepartment of Nursing and Health Innovation, Center of Innovation in Healthy and Resilient Aging, Arizona State University.

Funding

VCID and Stroke in a Bi-racial National CohortU01NS041588 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI CUSHMAN, MARY, HOWARD, GEORGE · 2002 to 2022
$96.0M
Transitions to Family Caregiving and Its Impact on Health IndicatorsRF1AG050609 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI ROTH, DAVID L · 2016 to 2016
$3.3M
NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG050609NIH HHSNINDS NIH HHS U01 NS041588
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chronic stress is associated with negative health outcomes, including poorer cognition. Some studies found stress from caregiving associated with worse cognitive functioning; however, findings are mixed. The present study examined the relationship between caregiving, caregiving strain, and cognitive functioning. We identified participants in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study who were family caregivers at baseline assessment and used propensity matching on 14 sociodemographic and health variables to identify matched noncaregivers for comparison. Data included up to 14 years of repeated assessments of global cognitive functioning, learning and memory, and executive functioning. Our results showed that when compared to noncaregivers, caregivers had better baseline scores on global cognitive functioning and word list learning (WLL). Among caregivers, a lot of strain was associated with better WLL and delayed word recall in the unadjusted model only. Caregivers with a lot of strain had higher depressive symptoms but not significantly higher high-sensitivity c-reactive protein (hsCRP) at baseline compared to caregivers with no or some strain after covariate adjustment. Although caregiving can be highly stressful, we found caregiving status and caregiving strain were not associated with cognitive decline. More methodologically rigorous studies are needed, and conclusions that caregiving has negative effects on cognition should be viewed with caution. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Indexed as

AgingCaregiversCognitionHumans

Identifiers

PMID37428734
PMCPMC10776801

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.