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Interpersonal Communication In The Context Of Dementia: Examining Family Caregivers' Appraisals And Burden, Stacy Lynn Barnes

Dissertations (1934 -)

Purpose and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore dementia family caregivers' appraisals of communication behaviors and strategies, and their relationships to caregiver burden. Study objectives were to investigate: 1) the relationship between frequency of dementia-related communication behaviors and caregivers' appraisals of frustration; 2) the relationship between caregivers' use of communication strategies and appraisals of helpfulness; 3) the structural relationships between communication behavior appraisal, communication strategy appraisal, problem behaviors, and caregiver burden; and 4) caregiver education level as a moderating variable of the final structural model. Methods: A written, mailed questionnaire was developed to capture dementia family caregivers' …