Living with a depressed spouse

The depressed mood and specific burdens experienced by spouses of patients in treatment for depression were examined. Forty-nine wife-depressed couple s and 30 husband-depressed couples were administered the Structured Clinica l interview for DSM-IV (M. B. First, R. L. Spitzer, M. Gibbon, & J. B. W. W illiams, 1995), and spouses completed measures of depressed mood and burden . Overall, spouses living with a depressed patient reported significantly m ore depressed mood than general population norms and numerous specific burd ens. Regression analyses showed that these burdens as well as gender of the spouse accounted for the spouses' depressed mood that would otherwise be a ttributed to mood contagion. It is suggested that as an alternative to an e xclusive therapeutic focus on patient outcomes, attention might profitably be directed to the distress and burden experienced by spouses.