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Persons with Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia, are frequently cared for by their spouses. It is well documented in the literature that the physical and especially emotional stress and strain entailed in caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s negatively affects the health and well-being of the caregiver. The progression of the disease and intensified symptoms – as the Alzheimer’s patient becomes, for example, robbed of cognitive abilities and develops behavior problems and personality changes – affects the couple’s relationship, especially communication and social exchange between the spouses. A deeper understanding of the effects of dementia on dyadic social exchange in married couples, or clarification of the connection between changes in social exchange and well-being in couples, is of scientific importance, but is also important with a view to practical interventions.
Currently working in this research area:
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Caring for a child with a life-limiting illness poses great challenges to parents. Those affected often receive limited support from relatives or medical and nursing personnel. The two parents are dependent mainly on each other for lasting support and understanding. Dyadic coping and social support from one’s spouse are significantly correlated with lower levels of experienced stress and better self-reported emotional and physical well-being. In trauma research, the construct ‘personal growth’ is used to investigate the extent to which survivors of a traumatic event go through a process of personal maturation due to their efforts to process and cope with the trauma. This research project deals with parents that cared for their child in its last phase of life and examines how they coped with the demands and strains of caring for their child with a life-limiting disease, how they handled their mutual grief together, and whether they report having gone through a process of personal growth in the course of the coping process.
Currently working in this research area:
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The developmental phase of youth is characterized by an increasing number of independently made decisions (decision autonomy), whereas with dependency in old age or also in the case of illness in part radically restricted autonomy can be observed (with others making a lot of the decisions). Restrictions ultimately have a negative effect on life satisfaction and health. Using a suitable instrument, this project is measuring the course of subjectively perceived decision autonomy across the life span or in critical life phases. In addition, factors are being examined that, for example, following an accident or the diagnosis of an illness like diabetes, in the medium or longer term lead to the regaining of satisfactory levels of ability to act and autonomy. The aim is also to develop intervention measures in counseling or therapy in order to find appropriate starting points in personal life and at work where the imbalance in decision autonomy can be evened out. Here, an important goal will be to increase the amount of shared decision making.
Currently working in this research area:
