(PS2-28) Easing the Burden: Feasibility of the Three Good Things Intervention for Dementia Caregivers

Background: Dementia caregivers experience significant psychological, physical, and financial strain. While evidence-based interventions for this population are abundant, implementation requires trained personnel and time a caregiver may not have to participate. The Three Good Things (3GT) gratitude exercise is a positive psychology-based, passive intervention, and may provide an accessible approach to enhancing well-being by fostering cognitive reframing and resilience.

Objective: This pilot study examines the efficacy of 3GT in reducing depression, burden, and burnout among dementia caregivers and investigates whether gratitude mediates intervention effects.

Methods: Forty-five caregivers were randomly assigned to the 3GT intervention or a neutral reflection control group. Participants completed a daily task of listing three things that went well for that day for 15 days. Pre and post caregiver burden, burnout, depressive symptoms, gratitude, and positive coping strategies were measured. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA and multilevel modeling.

Results: Caregiver burden significantly declined in the 3GT group compared to controls (p < .03, η² = .11). However, no significant differences were observed for burnout, depression, positive affect, or coping strategies. Gratitude did not mediate reductions in depressive symptoms. Despite non-significant findings for most outcomes, the direction of effects suggested potential benefits. Attrition was low (8.3% intervention, 14.8% control), and both groups were demographically comparable.

Discussion: While 3GT reduced caregiver burden, it did not significantly impact other outcomes, possibly due to limited statistical power or the neutral control task minimizing contrast effects. Findings suggest the 3GT intervention may promote resilience by shifting attention toward positive experiences.  Future research should explore long-term impacts, larger samples, and additional mechanisms to optimize gratitude interventions for caregivers, or augment existing caregiver interventions by incorporating a module teaching 3GT strategy.  Despite mixed findings, 3GT remains a promising, low-cost strategy for supporting dementia caregivers.