Changes in perceived stress among family caregivers of people living with dementia: An exploratory longitudinal network analysis

초록

Background: Music is a promising approach for stress management among family caregivers of people living with dementia, but little is known about item-level perceived stress responses following a music-based intervention. Objective: This exploratory longitudinal study descriptively examined changes in the stress network structure of family caregivers of people living with dementia over an 8-week music intervention period. Methods: Responses to six items from the Perceived Stress Scale were analyzed in 22 family caregivers in the intervention group. Longitudinal network analysis was used to explore associations among perceived stress items at pre-and post-test assessments. Results: Feeling "overburdened" showed the highest centrality values for strength, betweenness, and closeness at pre-test, indicating a potentially central position within the stress network. At post-test, the centrality pattern differed, with lower values observed for feeling "overburdened." Conclusions: Perceived stress components among family caregivers of people living with dementia may have different structural associations over time. Feeling "overburdened" may be an important stress-related experience within caregiver stress networks and may represent a potentially valuable therapeutic target for psychological intervention. Given the exploratory nature of the study, further research with larger samples and adequately powered control groups is needed to better understand longitudinal changes in perceived stress networks. (c) 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

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