ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2025
Longitudinal impact of transition to caregiving on cognitive functioning: a matched case-control study.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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7 authors.
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Abstract
objectivesChronic stress has a strong theoretical link to poorer cognitive aging outcomes. Stress from caregiving, especially dementia caregiving, is associated with worse cognition; however, most prior studies have serious methodological limitations. We examined the longitudinal impact of caregiving transitions (including dementia caregiving) on cognition, compared to carefully matched non-caregiver controls, and the possible mediating role of depressive symptoms and perceived stress.
methodsParticipants in the Caregiving Transition Study who transitioned into caregiving (n = 251) were compared to sociodemographically and health-matched non-caregiving controls (n = 251). Data included 14 years of repeated assessments, including timepoints before and after transitions on global cognition (six-item screener), episodic memory (word-list learning, delayed word recall), and verbal fluency (letter and animal fluency).
resultsCompared to non-caregiving, negative associations between caregiving transitions, episodic memory, and global cognition were significant during transitions, but these associations were small (Cohen's d approximately 0.2 SD units). Compared to non-caregivers, transitioned caregivers showed less decline in word list learning and global cognition during post-transitions. In adjusted subgroup analyses, dementia caregivers performed worse after transitions than non-dementia caregivers in delayed word recall but better on animal fluency. Increases in depressive symptoms mediated caregiving transitions and episodic memory but not global cognition. Perceived stress did not have a mediating role. DISCUSSION: Significant associations were found between caregiving transitions and cognition, but effects were domain-specific for memory and global cognition, and short-lived. Dementia caregiving also had differential effects on cognition. Future studies should examine whether these small, temporary declines in caregiver cognition improve with caregiver interventions.
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