The association between alexithymia, emotional intelligence and burnout among nursing assistants working in nursing home settings: A cross-sectional study

AIMS

To determine the explanatory power of alexithymia and emotional intelligence over burnout and to examine their combined explanatory capacity over burnout in the context of older adult care.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional. All participants voluntarily and anonymously completed a questionnaire survey. They were all blind to the aim of the study.

METHODS

One hundred and fifty-nine nursing assistants recruited during 2014 took part in the study. They belong to 10 nursing homes in the north of Spain. Sociodemographic and work-related information was collected, and measures of burnout, alexithymia and emotional intelligence were administered. Data were examined by means of regression analyses.

RESULTS

The analysis showed that alexithymia made a moderate contribution to the depersonalization and personal accomplishment dimensions of burnout, controlling for the influence of work characteristics. Emotional intelligence did not have incremental validity over alexithymia in explaining burnout.

CONCLUSION

Alexithymia, rather than emotional intelligence, is a stronger explanatory variable for burnout among nursing assistants working in nursing homes.

IMPACT

Alexithymia and emotional intelligence are related to burnout and help to explain why, in the same context, each worker is affected differently by chronic stress at work. However, their combined explanatory capacity in nursing assistants working with older people remains underexplored. In our sample, alexithymia explains burnout better than emotional intelligence, a finding that was both unexpected and theoretically relevant. Researchers should take this into account when studying personal resources to prevent and manage burnout among nursing assistants, as alexithymia, rather that emotional intelligence, could play an important role once workers are burned out. Training nursing assistants to identify and describe emotions should be considered as part of their training programmes and/or in nursing homes as an institutional strategy to prevent burnout and to improve the quality of older adult care.

Factors associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL): differential patterns depending on age

PURPOSE

The aims of this study were: (1) to analyze age differences in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) between the young old (aged 65-84) and the oldest old (aged 85 and over), and (2) to investigate three types of predictors: (a) physical health [Basic Activities of Daily Living (BADL), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, comorbidity, use of medication], (b) global cognitive ability and (c) psychosocial factors, specifically personality traits, social support and emotional functioning (positive and negative affect and life satisfaction), which may influence the HRQoL of both the young old and the oldest old.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 257 healthy community-dwelling elderly people. HRQoL was assessed using the SF-36 Health Survey. Functional and health status, global cognitive ability and psychosocial variables were also assessed.

RESULTS

Age differences were found in HRQoL, with the oldest old scoring lower for this variable. Multiple stepwise hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that, in relation to the physical health component, use of medication, BADL and positive affect had the greatest influence among the young old (65-84), whereas among the oldest old, neuroticism and the BADL were the most influential factors. As regards the mental health component, neuroticism, use of medication and positive affect were the main predictor variables among the young old, while neuroticism and negative affect had the greatest influence among the oldest old group.

CONCLUSION

The oldest old had a poorer HRQoL in both dimensions measured (physical and mental). There appear to be differences between the determinants of HRQoL for young old and oldest old adults, suggesting that these associations change with age.

A randomized, two-year study of the efficacy of cognitive intervention on elderly people: the Donostia Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND

Research on non-pharmacological therapies (cognitive rehabilitation) in old age has been very limited, and most has not considered the effect of interventions of this type over extended periods of time.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate a new cognitive therapy in a randomized study with elderly people who did not suffer cognitive impairment.

METHODS

The efficacy of this therapy was evaluated by means of post-hoc analysis of 238 people using biomedical, cognitive, behavioural, quality of life (QoL), subjective memory, and affective assessments.

RESULTS

Scores for learning potential and different types of memory (working memory, immediate memory, logic memory) for the treatment group improved significantly relative to the untreated controls.

CONCLUSIONS

The most significant finding in this study was that learning potential continued at enhanced levels in trained subjects over an intervention period lasting two years, thereby increasing rehabilitation potential and contributing to successful ageing.