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The relationship between self‐efficacy and resting blood pressure in spousal Alzheimer's caregivers
Author(s) -
Harmell Alexandrea L.,
Mausbach Brent T.,
Roepke Susan K.,
Moore Raeanne C.,
von Känel Roland,
Patterson Thomas L.,
Dimsdale Joel E.,
Mills Paul J.,
Ziegler Michael G.,
Allison Matthew A.,
AncoliIsrael Sonia,
Grant Igor
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
british journal of health psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 2044-8287
pISSN - 1359-107X
DOI - 10.1348/135910710x504932
Subject(s) - spouse , blood pressure , self efficacy , coping (psychology) , psychology , body mass index , dementia , clinical psychology , diabetes mellitus , social support , disease , medicine , gerontology , endocrinology , social psychology , anthropology , sociology
Objective. To examine whether high levels of self‐efficacy for problem‐focused coping were significantly related to several resting BP measures in spousal Alzheimer's disease caregivers. Design. Cross‐sectional. Methods. Participants included 100 older caregivers (mean age = 73.8 ± 8.14 years) providing in home care for a spouse with Alzheimer's disease. All participants completed a 13‐item short form of the Coping Self‐Efficacy Scale and underwent an in‐home assessment where a visiting nurse took the average of three serial BP readings. Multiple regression was used to examine the relationship between self‐efficacy and mean arterial pressure (MAP), systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), and pulse pressure (PP) after controlling for age, gender, smoking history, body mass index, the care recipient's clinical dementia rating, diabetes, alcohol use, and the use of antihypertensive medications. Results. Overall, high levels of self‐efficacy for problem‐focused coping were associated with lower MAP, SBP, and PP. Self‐efficacy for problem‐focused coping was marginally associated with resting DBP, but not significant. In addition, we conducted secondary analyses of the other two self‐efficacy scales to explore the relationship between each dimension and MAP. We found that there were no significant relationships found between MAP and self‐efficacy for stopping unpleasant thoughts/emotions or self‐efficacy for getting social support. Conclusions. The present study adds to the current body of literature by illustrating the possibility that higher self‐efficacy can have physiological advantages, perhaps by buffering chronic stress's impact on resting BP. Another contribution of the current study is its attempt to understand the role of each individual component of self‐efficacy. These findings invite future research to investigate whether caregivers might experience cardiovascular benefits from interventions aimed at enhancing self‐efficacy.