title: Does duration of spousal caregiving affect risk of depression onset? Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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 significant elevations in risk of depression onset (hazard ratio: 1.64; Wald χ(2), 1 df: 28.34; p <0.0001). Effect estimates for long-term caregiving were similar (hazard ratio: 1.52, Wald χ(2), 1 df: 3.63; p = 0.06).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current spousal caregiving significantly predicted onset of depression; the association was not exacerbated by longer duration of caregiving.
authors.affiliation: Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC. Electronic address: ben_capistrant@unc.edu.
authors.forename: Benjamin D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Capistrant
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavior Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Harvard Center for Development and Population Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
authors.forename: Lisa F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Berkman
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavior Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: M Maria
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Glymour
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Caregiving; depression; depressive symptoms; older adults; spouses