Relationship quality and potentially harmful behaviors by spousal caregivers: How we were then, how we are now

Structured interview data from 142 caregivers (98 wives. 44 husbands) indic ate that more depressed caregivers are more likely to treat their spouses i n potentially harmful ways. However, consistent with hypotheses derived fro m communal relationships theory. when the preillness relationship between c aregiver and care recipient was characterized by mutual responsiveness to e ach other's needs (i.e., was more communal), caregivers were less depressed and less frequently engaged in potentially harmful behaviors. These effect s were not attributable to demographic factors, amount of care provided, ca re recipient dementia status, or length of time in the caregiving role, Rat her, multivariate analyses suggest that the extent to which premorbid relat ionships were communal in nature determines whether caregivers perceive the ir current relationships as rewarding, which. in turn, predicts caregiver d epression and potentially harmful behaviors.