Self-Efficacy Buffers the Relationship Between Dementia Caregiving Stress and Circulating Concentrations of the Proinflammatory Cytokine Interleukin-6

Caregiving stress in combination with low coping self-efficacy is significantly related to IL-6, a known risk marker for health morbidity, particularly CVD. However, stress was not associated with IL-6 with high self-efficacy. Although limited and preliminary, these results point to a potential protective effect of self-efficacy on caregiver health that can be tested in longitudinal studies.