Criticism

Background: Despite a large literature on the stress process, little attention has focused on how caregivers for persons living with dementia (PLWDs) provide care and how this may impact care outcomes. Criticism is a management strategy caregivers may use to respond to behavioral symptoms. We consider whether criticism is associated with caregivers' mental health and service utilization. Methods: Data are drawn from the Advancing Caregiver Training intervention study including 256 informal caregivers living with a PLWD.

Background: Expressed emotion (EE) is a global index of familial emotional climate, which is comprised of emotional over-involvement (EOI) and critical comments (CC)/hostility. Although EE is an established predictor of negative outcomes for both people with long-term mental health difficulties and their family carers, its psychological underpinnings remain relatively poorly understood. This paper examined associations between attachment, mentalisation ability and aspects of EE.