title: Systematic review of dyadic and family-oriented interventions for late-life depression.
abstract: Supportive behaviors (both instrumental and emotional) from spouses and close family members can impact the trajectory of older adults' depressive symptoms. Interventions that target both the patient and support person may be more effective than interventions that target the patient only, in terms of alleviating mood symptoms in the identified patient. The purpose of this paper was to review the characteristics and findings of dyadic and family-oriented interventions for late-life mood disorders to determine if they are effective and beneficial.
  
  
  
  Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review of reports in the literature on dyadic or family-oriented interventions for late-life mood disorders. We searched PubMed, OVID PsycINFO, and EMBASE for peer-reviewed journal articles in English through October 2014.
  
  
  
  We identified 13 articles, representing a total of 10 independent investigations. Identified studies focused on spouses and close family members as support persons. Effect sizes for dyadic interventions that treated major depressive disorder were, on average, moderately strong, while effect sizes for dyadic interventions that reduced depressive symptoms were generally small. We did not identify any dyadic studies that treated bipolar disorder.
  
  
  
  This review showed that dyadic interventions are feasible and that these interventions can decrease symptomatology in individuals who have major depressive disorder. Research is needed to understand the relative efficacy of a dyadic approach over a single-target approach in treating depression. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Stahl
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Juleen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodakowski
authors.affiliation: Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Ester M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Saghafi
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Mijung
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Charles F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Mary Amanda
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dew
mesh_terms: D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology
keywords: couples; interventions; mood disorders; older adults; systematic review