SPOUSAL CAREGIVERS ACTIVITY RESTRICTION AND DEPRESSION - A MODEL FOR CHANGES OVER TIME

In this paper we examine the effects of increasing as well as decreasi ng caregiving demands on depressive symptomatology. In addition, we fo cus on spousal caregivers' activity restriction as an explanatory mech anism for changes in depressive symptomatology in the caregiving conte xt. Two databases are used to answer our research questions. An increa se of caregiving demands is assessed in study I, which includes prospe ctive data on 127 spousal caregivers of stroke, hip fracture, congesti ve heart failure and myocardial infarction patients, A decrease of car egiving demands is examined in study 2, which includes prospective dat a on 110 spousal caregivers of bypass operation patients. The results generally support the hypothesis that an increase in caregiving demand s results in increased depressive symptomatology, while a decrease in caregiving demands reduces depressive symptomatology. The results also support the notion of activity restriction as a critical mediator of changes in depressive symptoms, Cross-sectionally it mediates the asso ciation between caregiving and depressive symptomatology, and longitud inally it contributes to changes in depressive symptomatology in both samples. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.