Longitudinal Influences of Partner Depression on Cognitive Functioning in Latino Spousal Pairs

Overview

Journal Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord

Publisher Karger

Specialties Geriatrics
Neurology
Psychiatry

Date 2009 May 15

PMID 19439967

Citations 1

Authors

Ladson Hinton

Yolanda Hagar

Nancy West

Hector M Gonzalez

Dan Mungas

Laurel Beckett

Mary N Haan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background/aims: While social factors may influence the trajectories of cognitive aging, the influence of spousal characteristics (i.e. health or mental health) on cognitive decline has received little attention. This study examined the influence of baseline depressive symptoms in one spouse on cognitive functioning in the other.

Methods: We conducted a longitudinal study of 279 Latino spousal pairs (558 people) taken from a cohort study (n = 1,789) in California's central valley with assessments every 12-18 months.

Results: Higher husband baseline depression was significantly associated with lower cognitive scores maintained across time for both husbands (p < 0.001) and wives (p = 0.01). Wives with higher baseline depression scores showed significantly worse cognitive function over time (p = 0.007).

Conclusions: Husbands' cognitive function was more strongly linked to their own level of depression, whereas wives' cognitive function was influenced by both their own and their partners' level of baseline depression. Our study further documents the public health significance of depression and our need to look beyond the individual to the reverberating effects of depression on the family.

Citing Articles

The Associations between Cognitive Function, Depressive Symptoms, and Contact with Adult Children in Older Couples.

Min J, Kim B, Min K J Clin Med. 2023; 12(16).

PMID: 37629471 PMC: 10455187. DOI: 10.3390/jcm12165431.

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