This federal Project Grant award of $774,120.00, provided by the National Institute on Aging under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866), will support a multi-year study to investigate the prevalence and impact of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among caregivers of persons living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
The study aims to: 1) determine the prevalence of caregiving-related PTSS and exposure to potentially traumatic events in this caregiver population; 2) assess the direct and indirect effects of PTSS on caregiver burden; and 3) examine the impact of contextual factors such as geographic location, race, and caregiver relationship on PTSS prevalence and associations with caregiver burden and depression. The award will enable the research team at Wake Forest University Health Sciences to expand upon their previous pilot data and conduct this foundational research with a larger sample of 1,200 caregivers in North Carolina. The insights gained will inform future interventions and adaptations to caregiver support services to better address PTSS among this population.