The Longitudinal Effects of Caregiver Grief in Dementia and the Modifying Effects of Social Services: A Prospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND Caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD) can experience loss and grief long before the death of the PWD, with such caregiver grief postulated to affect the well‐being of the PWD‐caregiver dyads. However, the longitudinal effects of caregiver grief and the moderating effects of social services are not yet clear. OBJECTIVES We investigated the longitudinal effects of caregiver grief on caregiver depression, caregivers' quality of life (QoL), and caregivers' perceived positive aspects of caregiving (PAC); and examined potential effect modification of social service utilization (dementia care services, caregiver programs, and paid caregivers). DESIGN AND SETTING A prospective cohort study with three time points of assessments (at 0, 6, and 12 months). PARTICIPANTS Family caregivers of community‐dwelling PWD (n = 178). MEASUREMENTS At time point 1 (baseline), participants completed questionnaires that captured caregiver grief, burden, and social service utilization. Outcomes that were captured over time were: depression (time points 1–3), QoL (time point 2), and PAC (time point 3). Caregiver grief as well as interaction terms with social service utilization were included in Tobit regression to examine the association with outcomes. RESULTS After accounting for the effect of caregiver burden, caregiver grief remained associated with depressive symptoms (P