Associations of spousal and non-spousal caregiving with six-year trajectories of depressive symptoms among older women in the Caregiver-Study of Osteoporotic Fractures study

Abstract

Objectives:Caregiving and becoming widowed are risk factors for depression in older adults, but few studies have examined their combined effect on depressive symptom trajectories. In a cohort of older women (mean age = 80.7 years) from the Caregiver-Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, we used latent class growth curve modeling to identify trajectories of depressive symptoms over approximately six years.

Method:We used multinomial logistic regression to assess the relative odds of four depressive symptom trajectories (consistently low, consistently moderate, moderate/increasing, and consistently high), among three groups: spousal caregivers (n = 149), non-spousal caregivers (n = 157), and non-caregivers (n = 422). We also repeated this analysis with combined caregiving status and widowhood as the exposure.

Results:Compared to non-caregivers, spousal caregivers had greater relative odds of consistently high versus consistently low depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.6, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.9, 6.5). Non-spousal caregivers did not differ from non-caregivers in depressive trajectories. Compared to non-caregivers who did not become widowed, both widowed and non-widowed spousal caregivers had greater relative odds of consistently high versus consistently low depressive symptoms (aOR = 4.9, 95% CI: 1.9, 12.7 and aOR = 3.0, 95% CI: 1.5, 6.0, respectively). Non-widowed spousal caregivers, but not widowed spousal caregivers, had a non-statistically-significant trend toward increased relative odds of moderate/increasing depressive symptoms (aOR = 1.5, 95% CI: 0.7, 3.4).

Conclusion:Spousal caregiving and widowhood, but not non-spousal caregiving, are associated with trajectories reflecting greater depressive symptoms over time. Informal caregiving is common among older women, and women caring for spouses should be monitored for depression, both during caregiving and after spousal loss.

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.1950611.

Keywords:

• Depression
• caregiving
• trajectory analysis
• spousal caregiving
• widowhood

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) and Caregiver-SOF are supported by National Institutes of Health funding. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, grant numbers R01 AG005407, R01 AR35582, R01 AR35583, R01 AR35584, R01 AG005394, R01 AG027574, R01 AG027576, R01 AG18037, and R21 AG050428.