Does type of disease matter? Gender differences among Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease spouse caregivers

Purpose of study: Mental health outcomes are widely reported among spouse c aregivers, with wives generally faring worse than husbands. We hypothesized that gender differences would not be as strong in a cognitively intact gro up because caring for cognitively intact spouses may involve less severe re ciprocity losses. We also examined gender differences in coping strategies within each group. Design and method: 175 spouse caregivers for patients wi th Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 88) and Parkinson's disease (PD; n = 87) we re interviewed. Participants completed perceived stress (PSS), depression ( CES-D), state anxiety (STAI, Form Y), and coping strategies (WCCL-R) measur es. Results: Wives in the AD group reported significantly worse mental heal th outcomes than husbands, while wives and husbands in the PD group showed no differences. AD caregiving wives were less likely than husbands to use p roblem-focused coping strategies. There were no significant gender differen ces in either group for social support or emotion-focused coping. Implicati ons: Loss of:reciprocity in marital relationships may affect women more neg atively than men. Future studies that address underlying,mechanisms of gend er differences and focus on similar caregiving situations and contexts dese rve attention.