Caregiving for a person with dementia or neurodegenerative disease is associated with increased rates of depression and anxiety. As the population ages and dementia prevalence increases worldwide, mental health problems related to dementia caregiving will become an even more pressing public health concern. In the present study, we assessed emotional empathy (physiological, behavioral, and self-reported emotional responses to a film depicting others suffering) and two measures of cognitive empathy (identifying the primary emotion experienced by another person and providing continuous ratings of the valence of another person’s changing emotions) in relation to mental health (standard questionnaires) in 78 caregivers of people with dementia or neurodegenerative disease. Greater emotional empathy (self-reported emotional responses) was associated with worse mental health even after accounting for known risk factors. Neither measure of cognitive empathy was associated with mental health. A relationship between high levels of emotional empathy and poor mental health in caregivers suggests possible risk indicators and intervention targets.

照顾患有痴呆症或神经退行性疾病的人会增加抑郁和焦虑的发生率。随着全球人口老龄化和痴呆症患病率的增加，与痴呆症护理相关的心理健康问题将成为更加紧迫的公共卫生问题。在本研究中，我们评估了情感同理心（对描述他人痛苦的电影的生理、行为和自我报告的情绪反应）和认知同理心的两种衡量标准（识别另一个人经历的主要情绪并提供对情绪效价的连续评级）。另一个人不断变化的情绪）与 78 名痴呆症或神经退行性疾病患者的护理人员的心理健康（标准问卷）的关系。即使考虑到已知的风险因素，更强的情感同理心（自我报告的情绪反应）也与更差的心理健康相关。认知同理心的测量均与心理健康无关。护理人员高水平的情感同理心与心理健康状况不佳之间的关系表明了可能的风险指标和干​​预目标。