Meta-Analysis Reveals Consistently Positive Effects of Dementia Caregiver Interventions on Psychological Distress

Abstract

Introduction: With the global increase in dementia due to demographic aging, dementia not only affects those diagnosed but also their primary caregivers, often leading to significant caregiver burden. This study aimed to synthesize existing interventions to understand their effectiveness in reducing psychological distress – specifically anxiety, depression, and subjective well-being (SWB) – among dementia caregivers. Methods: We conducted a multilevel meta-analysis of 175 studies involving 342 intervention treatments on caregivers. Interventions were categorized into various psychological outcomes. The effects of demographic characteristics on intervention effectiveness were also analyzed using multilevel meta-regression. Results: Interventions generally showed a significant reduction in anxiety and depression with varied effects on SWB. Training of the care recipient showed the largest observed effect on SWB, although this estimate is based on only 10 observations and should be regarded as promising rather than definitive. CBT also produced a robust positive effect. Younger, male, and non-spousal caregivers tended to experience greater reductions in anxiety and depression compared to older, female, or spousal caregivers. Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of tailoring interventions to caregiver characteristics and outcome type. While interventions broadly reduce caregiver distress, the degree of benefit varies, indicating that personalized approaches may yield the best results. We also emphasize the need for rigorous methodology (e.g., handling nonindependence and publication bias) in future caregiver intervention research.