The relationship among stress, depression, locus of control, irrational beliefs, social support, and health in Alzheimer's disease caregivers.

This study evaluated the hypothesis that Alzheimer's disease caregivers and control subjects who experienced stressful life events, held the belief that external factors control one's destiny, endorsed irrational beliefs, and had decreased social support would experience more depression and poor health than less stressed individuals who were more internal, had less rigid cognitive beliefs, and had better support. A battery of psychosocial and health measures were administered at baseline and 6 months later. The results suggest that, overall, the experience of marked adversity, increased externality, and the endorsement of irrational beliefs were related to depression and poor health. While diminished social support was not associated with poor health in this study, satisfaction with social support and diminished adherence to irrational beliefs were related to improved ratings of subjective health over time. These findings indicate that psychosocial interventions designed to modify cognitive reactions to stress might improve the quality of life and the physical well being of a population at risk for poor health as a result of their age and life circumstances.