Comparison of the effectiveness of self-care education and process emotion regulation on depression symptoms of caregivers of elderly with dementia

The long-term, demanding nature of caring for dementia patients leaves a detrimental impact on carers' physical and emotional well-being. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of self-care education and process emotion regulation in the mitigation of depression symptoms among the caregivers of older adults with dementia. This quasi-experimental study was conducted based on a pre-test-post-test design and a four-month follow-up period with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all caregivers who cared for dementia patients in their homes or institutions and were referred to Dr. Rostam Seifaldini's center in Kerman in 2021. The statistical sample consisted of 45 people who were selected via convenience sampling. Thereafter, 15 subjects were randomly assigned to the control group, and 30 cases were allocated to two experimental groups. The experimental group received self-care training and process emotion regulation interventions in eight 45-minute sessions once a week. Data were collected using the Beck Depression Inventory (1961) and analyzed in SPSS software (version 26) using repeated measures analysis of variance. The results demonstrated that self-care education and emotion process regulation training were effective in depression and quality of life among the caregivers of older adults with dementia (P<0.01). The findings also pointed out that there was no significant difference between the effectiveness of the two interventions (self-care education and emotion process regulation training) in reducing depression symptoms among the caregivers of older adults with dementia. It can be concluded that self-care and emotion regulation training are effective in the mitigation of depression symptoms in caregivers.