BackgroundInformal caregivers of older adults provide critical support for their loved ones but are subject to negative health outcomes because of burden and stress. Interventions to provide information and resources as well as social and emotional support reduce burden. Mobile apps featuring access to information, assistance with scheduling, and other features can automate support functions inexpensively and conveniently and reach a greater proportion of caregivers than otherwise possible.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to identify mobile apps geared towards caregivers of older adults, catalog features, and suggest best practices for adoption based on empirical findings of beneficial interventions in the caregiving literature.MethodsSearch for apps focused on ones catered for caregivers of older adults in Google Play and iTunes, compiling their features, and identifying features reflecting categories of support identified in successful intervention studies to negative caregiver outcomes. Intervention research indicates that provision of information and resources, assistance in practical problem solving, coordinating care among multiple caregivers, and emotional support reduce caregiver burden.ResultsDespite approximately over 200,000 mobile health–related apps, the availability of mobile apps for caregivers is relatively sparse (n=44 apps) as of October 2017. Apps generally addressed specific categories of support, including information and resources, family communication, and caregiver-recipient interactions. Few apps were comprehensive. Only 8 out of 44 (18%) had features that addressed three or more categories. Few apps provided specific stress reduction exercises for caregivers, which is important for reducing burden.ConclusionsMobile apps have the potential to provide resources, just-in-time information for problem-solving, and stress reduction strategies for caregivers. Many apps offer functions that have been shown to reduce burden and improve health outcomes in caregivers, but few provide emotional support. Using an evidence-based practice approach, mobile apps for caregivers can provide multiple beneficial support functions. Apps can serve a much larger proportion of this highly underserved population in their mobile form than more traditional means, improving their health and quality of life.
Objectives Although a sizable body of research supports negative psychological consequences of caregiving, less is known about potential psychological benefits. This study aimed to examine whether caregiving was associated with enhanced generativity, or feeling like one makes important contributions to others. An additional aim was to examine the buffering potential of perceived generativity on adverse health outcomes associated with caregiving. Methods Analyses utilized a subsample of participants (n=3,815, ages 30–84) from the 2nd wave of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS). Results Regression analyses adjusting for sociodemographic factors indicated greater negative affect and depression (p<.001) and lower levels of positive affect (p<.01), but higher self-perceptions of generativity (p<.001), in caregivers compared to non-caregivers. This association remained after adjusting for varying caregiving intensities and negative psychological outcomes. Additionally, generativity interacted with depression and negative affect (p’s<.05) to lessen the likelihood of health-related cutbacks in work/household productivity among caregivers. Conclusions Results suggest that greater feelings of generativity may be a positive aspect of caregiving that might help mitigate some of the adverse health and well-being consequences of care. Clinical Implications Self-perceptions of generativity may help alleviate caregiver burden and explain why some caregivers fare better than others.
Both transient and stable facial cues have evolved as essential features of social communication in humans. Accumulating research links actual and perceived aggression to a higher ratio between the height and bizygomatic width of a person’s face (facial width-to-height ratio [WHR]) and shows that digitally increasing this ratio can alter apparent aggressiveness. We present evidence that facial behaviors associated with anger—the state most closely associated with aggressive intentions—also increase facial WHR, mimicking the facial morphology of aggressive individuals. In Study 1, individuals induced to appear aggressive naturally increased their facial WHR using anger-related facial behaviors. In Study 2, we found that validated anger expressions increased facial WHR and that this change predicts increased attributions of aggressiveness. We also found statistical suggestions that anger-related facial behaviors may serve as cues that overrepresent the expresser’s aggressiveness. Our findings suggest that facial behaviors associated with anger may have emerged to facilitate aggressive encounters.
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