Abstract

Background and objectives

Changes in socio-emotional functioning in people living with dementia (PLWD) are common; however, little is known about the broader effects these may have on wellbeing. This study examined socio-emotional functioning over time and associations with the wellbeing of PLWD and their family carers.

Method

One hundred and one individuals with a diagnosis of dementia and their respective carers completed the Social Emotional Questionnaire (assessing emotion recognition, empathy, social relationships and social behaviour) alongside measures of dementia severity, cognition, mood, stress, and relationship quality. Sixty-six dyads were reassessed on the same measures at 12 months post-baseline, and 51 dyads again at 20 months post-baseline.

Results

When rated by the PLWD, there was no change in socio-emotional functioning over time; however, carers reported a significant decline over time. For both carers and the PLWD, poorer wellbeing measures were indicative of worse socio-emotional functioning at Time 1, though only dementia type, quality of life and relationship quality impacted upon the trajectory of socio-emotional decline over time.

Conclusions

Changes in social and emotional functioning are evident early in the course of dementia and worsen within 20 months. Both carer characteristics and those of the PWLD affected reporting of social and emotional functioning. These data are useful for guiding the provision of appropriate education and care.

中文翻译：

---

早期痴呆症的社会情绪功能轨迹：对痴呆症患者及其家庭照顾者的影响

摘要

背景和目标

痴呆症患者（PLWD）的社会情绪功能变化很常见；然而，人们对这些可能对福祉产生的更广泛影响知之甚少。这项研究检查了社会情绪功能随时间的变化以及与 PLWD 及其家庭照顾者的福祉的关系。

方法

一百零一个被诊断为痴呆的人及其各自的照顾者完成了社会情绪问卷（评估情绪识别、同理心、社会关系和社会行为）以及痴呆严重程度、认知、情绪、压力和关系质量的测量。在基线后 12 个月对 66 对以相同的措施进行了重新评估，在基线后 20 个月再次对 51 对进行了评估。

结果

当被 PLWD 评定时，社会情绪功能没有随着时间的推移而发生变化；然而，护理人员报告说随着时间的推移显着下降。对于照顾者和 PLWD 而言，较差的健康指标表明在时间 1 的社会情绪功能较差，尽管只有痴呆类型、生活质量和关系质量会影响社会情绪随时间下降的轨迹。

结论

社会和情感功能的变化在痴呆症的早期就很明显，并在 20 个月内恶化。照顾者特征和 PWLD 的特征都会影响社会和情感功能的报告。这些数据有助于指导提供适当的教育和护理。