Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders

Original Research Article

Free Access

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

Hinton L. · Hagar Y. · West N. · González H.M. · Mungas D. · Beckett L. · Haan M.N.

Author affiliations

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, Calif., USA

Corresponding Author

Ladson Hinton, MD

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis

2230 Stockton Blvd.

Sacramento, CA 95817 (USA)

Tel. +1 916 734 3485, Fax +1 916 734 3384, E-Mail ladson.hinton@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu

Keywords: AgingCognitionDepression, spouseGender

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Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2009;27:491–500
https://doi.org/10.1159/000218113

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.

© 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel



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Article / Publication Details

First-Page Preview
Abstract of Original Research Article

Accepted: May 02, 2009
Published online: May 13, 2009
Issue release date: July 2009

Number of Print Pages: 10
Number of Figures: 3
Number of Tables: 3

ISSN: 1420-8008 (Print)
eISSN: 1421-9824 (Online)

For additional information: https://www.karger.com/DEM

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2009, Vol.27, No. 6

July 2009

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