Most research in dementia family caregiving field has been guided by the stress and coping model, which holds a caregiver-centered perspective look at the family caregiving scenario. This individualistic approach of mainstream caregiving research does not allow to explain the relational aspects and variables related to the interaction between caregivers and the person with dementia (PWD), which have been underexplored until today. However, more systemic and dyad-centered approaches are needed to enrich our understanding of this chronic stress scenario. How caregivers perceive their way of caring for the PWD may exert a central role in the stress and coping model, and it may be potentially related to characteristics of the PWD (problematic behaviors and functional capacity), and caregivers´ distress and coping variables. This study aimed to develop and test a valid and reliable instrument to measure caregivers´ self-perceived caring style and explore these potential associations.

This communication will present preliminary evidence from family dementia caregivers who volunteered to participate and were interviewed to assess sociodemographic data, stressors, psychological outcomes (anxiety and depression) and the following interaction-related variables: self-perceived caregiving interaction style, expressed emotion and quality of the relationship in the dyad (past and present). A sample of 100 participants is expected, as the project is currently going on.

The Caregivers´ Self-Perceived Caring Style Scale (SPCSS) has been developed to measure 6 potential aspects of caregivers’ way of caring for the PWD: calmness, tenderness/lovingness, acceptance/validation, control/structure, overprotection, hostility, and communication facilitation. Preliminary reliability and validity analyses support good psychometric properties of the scale, as well as significant correlations between the different styles of caring and characteristics of the PWD, caregivers´ gender and kinship with the PWD, depression and anxiety symptoms, quality of the dyad relationship and expressed emotion. Implications for caregiving research and for the development of effective interventions to alleviate caregivers´ distress will be discussed.