Does carer psychological inflexibility moderate the relationship between Motor Neurone Disease symptomatology and carer anticipatory grief emotions?

Trucco, Ana Paula, Khondoker, Mizanur, Kishita, Naoko, Backhouse, Tamara, Meuser, Thomas M. and Mioshi, Eneida (2025) Does carer psychological inflexibility moderate the relationship between Motor Neurone Disease symptomatology and carer anticipatory grief emotions? Journal of Health Psychology. ISSN 1359-1053

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Abstract

Anticipatory grief (AG) in family carers of people living with motor neurone disease (MND) is underexplored. Research has identified MND symptoms as significant predictors of AG in carers. This study investigated whether carer psychological inflexibility moderates the relationship between MND symptoms and carer AG, a crucial area for informing supportive interventions. Two moderation analyses with 75 carers (UK = 70, USA = 5) were conducted. The first analysis found that while MND disease severity (ALSFRS-R) and psychological inflexibility (AAQ-II) were associated with AG (MMCGI-SF), psychological inflexibility did not moderate this relationship. Similarly, the second analysis revealed that while behavioural changes (MiND-B) and psychological inflexibility influenced AG, the interaction between them was not significant. These findings suggest that although psychological inflexibility does not moderate the relationship between MND symptoms and carer AG, it may still impact carers’ emotional distress, highlighting the need to address this in interventions. Clinical implications are discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data availability statement: The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Funding information: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: APT’s PhD studentship is supported by MND Scotland. EM and TB are supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration ARC East of England. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funders, NHS or Department of Health and Social Care. TB also receives support from the Alzheimer’s Society and is funded through a Post-Doctoral Fellowship.
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Epidemiology and Public Health Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Population Health Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Dementia & Complexity in Later Life Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Centre for Japanese Studies Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Norwich Institute for Healthy Aging Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Statistics
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	06 Mar 2025 10:30
Last Modified:	06 Apr 2025 06:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/98684
DOI:	10.1177/13591053251328490

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