Impact of close family members on older adults' early response to depression treatment.
This study of 130 depressed older adults and their spouses or adult children examined the impact of caregiver burden specific to patients' depressive symptoms on patients' response to antidepressant treatment. Primary care patients completed medical, psychiatric, and neuropsychological assessments prior to treatment, and interviews were conducted with their identified family member. As hypothesized, caregivers' depression-specific burden predicted greater depression severity for the patient at the 6th week of treatment after accounting for patients' pretreatment characteristics, caregivers' depressive symptoms, and caregivers' relationship satisfaction. Future research may identify family attitudes and behaviors that stem from burden and compromise older adults' ability to recover from depression.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. martire@pitt.edu
Lynn M
LM
Martire
Richard
R
Schulz
Charles F
CF
Reynolds
Jennifer Q
JQ
Morse
Meryl A
MA
Butters
Gregory A
GA
Hinrichsen
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D015283:Citalopram / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012944:Social Support; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D015283:Citalopram