Does duration of spousal caregiving affect risk of depression onset? Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To assess the association of current and long-term spousal caregiving with risk of depression in a nationally (U.S.) representative sample of older adults.

Methods

We studied married and depression-free Health and Retirement Study respondents aged 50 years and older (n = 9,420) at baseline from 2000 to 2010. Current (≥14 hours per week of help with instrumental/activities of daily living for a spouse in the most recent biennial survey) and long-term caregiving (care at two consecutive surveys) were used to predict onset of elevated depressive symptoms (≥3 on a modified Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale) with discrete-time hazards models and time-updated exposure and covariate information.

Results

Current caregiving was associated with signi

SUBMITTER: Capistrant BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3785551 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature