title: Specific effects of caring for a spouse with dementia: differences in depressive symptoms between caregiver and non-caregiver spouses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Caring for spouses with dementia is a risk factor for increased levels of depression. Less is known about specific symptom differences between groups of caregivers and non-caregivers. This study characterizes differences on the CES-D depression screening scale between caregiving and non-caregiving spouses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from 391 spouse caregivers of persons with dementia and 226 control subjects. Significant between-group differences on demographic variables determined covariates used in two multivariate ANCOVA analyses, on the set of four CES-D subscales and on the set of the 20 CES-D individual items. Significant multivariate analyses were followed by univariate tests between the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dementia caregiving spouses had significantly more depressive symptoms than non-caregiving married adults, after controlling for group differences. Proportion of variance in the set of CES-D subscales explained by caregiver group status was 13.4%. The greatest between-groups difference in univariate analysis was found in the Positive Affect subscale, and significant differences were found in 11 of the 20 CES-D items. Caregiver spouses experienced less hope for the future and less happiness and enjoyment in life than the non-caregiving spouses. They also reported greater degrees of sadness, being bothered, and loneliness than the non-caregivers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The differences, particularly caregivers' lack of positive affect, suggest the need for appropriate intervention approaches to assist spouse caregivers.
authors.affiliation: The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and University Memory and Aging Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, U.S.A. kathryn.adams@case.edu
authors.forename: Kathryn Betts
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003704:Dementia; D003710:Demography; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012042:Registries; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires