Enjoyment of Daily Activities in Older Caregivers: An Ecological Momentary Assessment
2024
Enjoyment of Daily Activities in Older Caregivers
Sample size: 64
publication
Evidence: high
Author Information
Author(s): Pichardo Abel, Mausbach Brent
Primary Institution: San Diego State University
Hypothesis
The study investigates the association between daily variability in activities and daily mood in informal caregivers.
Conclusion
Increasing the enjoyment of activities rather than just the number of activities can significantly improve the mood of caregivers.
Supporting Evidence
- A greater number of activities was associated with more positive mood for the day.
- Greater average enjoyment of activities was associated with more positive mood for the day.
- Increasing activation by 8 daily activities indicated an improvement in mood of approximately 0.3 points.
- Replacing two moderately enjoyable activities with highly enjoyed activities indicated an improvement in mood of nearly 0.7 points.
Takeaway
Doing fun things can make caregivers feel happier, and it's better to do fewer enjoyable activities than many boring ones.
Methodology
Participants used a digital diary to record their mood, number of activities, and enjoyment over a period of 2 to 335 days.
Participant Demographics
Informal caregivers of Alzheimer’s Disease or related disorders.
Statistical Information
P-Value
<0.001
Statistical Significance
p<0.001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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