TY  - JOUR
A1  - Deeken, Friederike
A1  - Häusler, Andreas
A1  - Nordheim, Johanna
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Knoll, Nina
A1  - Rieckmann, Nina
T1  - Psychometric properties of the Perceived Stress Scale in a sample of German dementia patients and their caregivers
JF  - International psychogeriatrics
N2  - Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) in a sample of dementia patients and their spousal caregivers. Methods: We investigated the reliability and validity of the 14-item PSS in a sample of 80 couples, each including one spouse who had been diagnosed with mild to moderate dementia (mean age 75.55, SD = 5.85, 38.7% female) and one spousal caregiver (mean age 73.06, SD = 6.75, 61.3% female). We also examined the factor structure and sensitivity of the scale with regard to gender differences. Results: Exploratory factor analysis of the PSS revealed a two-factor solution for the scale; the first factor reflected general stress while the second factor consisted of items reflecting the perceived ability to cope with stressors. A confirmatory factor analysis verified that the data were a better fit for the two-factor model than a one-factor model. The two factors of the PSS showed good reliability for patients as well as for caregivers ranging between alpha = 0.73 and alpha = 0.82. Perceived stress was significantly positively correlated with depressive symptomatology in both caregivers and patients. Mean PSS scores did not significantly differ between male and female patients nor did they differ between male and female caregivers. Conclusion: The present data indicate that the PSS provides a reliable and valid measure of perceived stress in dementia patients and their caregivers.
KW  - Perceived Stress Scale
KW  - psychometric properties
KW  - dementia
KW  - caregiver
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610217001387
SN  - 1041-6102
SN  - 1741-203X
VL  - 30
IS  - 1
SP  - 39
EP  - 47
PB  - Cambridge Univ. Press
CY  - New York
ER  - 
TY  - GEN
A1  - Kuhlmann, Stella L.
A1  - Tschorn, Mira
A1  - Arolt, Volker
A1  - Beer, Katja
A1  - Brandt, Julia
A1  - Grosse, Laura
A1  - Haverkamp, Wilhelm
A1  - Mueller-Nordhorn, Jacqueline
A1  - Rieckmann, Nina
A1  - Waltenberger, Johannes
A1  - Warnke, Katharina
A1  - Hellweg, Rainer
A1  - Stroehle, Andreas
T1  - Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor and depressive symptoms in coronary heart disease patients: Role of cognitive functions Reply
T2  - Psychoneuroendocrinology
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.02.010
SN  - 0306-4530
VL  - 79
SP  - 175
EP  - 176
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kuhlmann, Stella
A1  - Tschorn, Mira
A1  - Arolt, Volker
A1  - Beer, Katja
A1  - Brandt, Julia
A1  - Grosse, Laura
A1  - Haverkamp, Wilhelm
A1  - Müller-Nordhorn, Jacqueline
A1  - Rieckmann, Nina
A1  - Waltenberger, Johannes
A1  - Warnke, Katharina
A1  - Hellweg, Rainer
A1  - Ströhle, Andreas
T1  - Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor and stability of depressive symptoms in coronary heart disease patients
BT  - a prospective study
JF  - Psychoneuroendocrinology : an international journal ; the official journal of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology
N2  - Objective:
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) supports neurogenesis, angiogenesis, and promotes the survival of various cell types in the brain and the coronary system. Moreover, BDNF is associated with both coronary heart disease (CHD) and depression. The current study aims to investigate whether serum BDNF levels are associated with the course of depressive symptoms in CHD patients.
Methods:
At baseline, N = 225 CHD patients were enrolled while hospitalized. Of these, N = 190 (84%) could be followed up 6 months later. Depressive symptoms were assessed both at baseline and at the 6-months follow-up using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Serum BDNF concentrations were measured using fluorometric Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA).
Results:
Logistic regression models showed that lower BDNF levels were associated with persistent depressive symptoms, even after adjustment for age, sex, smoking and potential medical confounders. The incidence of depressive symptoms was not related to lower BDNF levels. However, somatic comorbidity (as measured by the Charlson Comorbidity Index) was significantly associated with the incidence of depressive symptoms.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest a role of BDNF in the link between CHD and depressive symptoms. Particularly, low serum BDNF levels could be considered as a valuable biomarker for the persistence of depressive symptoms among depressed CHD patients.
KW  - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
KW  - Coronary heart disease (CHD)
KW  - Depression
KW  - Serum
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.12.015
SN  - 0306-4530
VL  - 77
SP  - 196
EP  - 202
PB  - Elsevier Science
CY  - Oxford
ER  -