Caregiving spouses’ experiences of relational uncertainty and partner influence in the prolonged relational transition of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
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Final Accepted Manuscript
Affiliation
Department of Communication, University of ArizonaIssue Date
2021-12-08Keywords
Alzheimer’scommunication
dementia
facilitation
interference
relational turbulence theory
uncertainty
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SAGE PublicationsCitation
Cooper, R. A., & Pitts, M. J. (2021). Caregiving spouses’ experiences of relational uncertainty and partner influence in the prolonged relational transition of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.Rights
© The Author(s) 2021.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias cause gradual cognitive and communicative decline over a period of several years creating a prolonged transitional period in the lives of people with the disease and their spouse. Relational turbulence theory served as a lens to examine 18 in-depth interviews with caregiving spouses regarding their experiences of relational uncertainty, and interference and facilitation from their partner throughout this prolonged relational transition. Counterintuitively, the experience of relational uncertainty was greatly influenced by the certainties of relational change and termination (death) that shifted the temporal focus of uncertainty to the future. Communicative symptoms and aggressive behavior were a main source of interference. Despite the impairment of the disease, caregiving spouses recognized their partners’ expressions of gratitude, moments of recognition, and simple expressions of love as facilitation.Note
Immediate accessISSN
0265-4075EISSN
1460-3608Version
Final accepted manuscriptSponsors
University of Arizona Graduate and Professional Student Councilae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1177/02654075211058084