Vranceanu, Ana-Maria

Background/objective: Anxiety is common in patients experiencing neurocritical illness and their family caregivers. Resilience factors like mindfulness and coping skills may be protective against symptoms of emotional distress, including anxiety. Less is known about the interplay of anxiety symptoms and resilience factors between patients and caregivers.

Objective: To explore the impact of resiliency factors on the longitudinal trajectory of depressive symptoms in patients admitted to the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit (Neuro-ICU) and their family caregivers.; Materials and Methods: Patients (N = 102) and family caregivers (N = 103) completed self-report assessments of depressive symptoms (depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS-D) and resiliency factors (i.e., mindfulness and coping) during Neuro-ICU hospitalization.

Background/Objective: Informal caregivers (e.g., family and friends) are at risk for developing depression, which can be detrimental to both caregiver and patient functioning. Initial evidence suggests that resiliency may reduce the risk of depression. However, gender differences in associations between multiple psychosocial resiliency factors and depression have not been examined among neuroscience intensive care unit (neuro-ICU) caregivers.

Background/objective: Chronic emotional distress (e.g., depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress) is common after stroke and interdependent between patients and their informal caregivers.

Objective: Every year, millions of Americans become informal caregivers to loved ones admitted to Neuroscience Intensive Care Units (Neuro-ICU), and face challenges to Quality of Life (QoL). This study sought to identify associations between resiliency, distress, and caregiver QoL at time of Neuro-ICU admission.; Methods: Informal caregivers (N = 79, Mage = 53, 64% female) of Neuro-ICU patients were recruited and completed self-report questionnaires during the hospitalization.