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The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Advance Access published online on March 12, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp006
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Self-Rated Health and Depressive Symptoms in Patients With End-Stage Renal Disease and Their Spouses: A Longitudinal Dyadic Analysis of Late-Life Marriages

Rachel Pruchno, Maureen Wilson-Genderson and Francine Cartwright

New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging, School of Osteopathic Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Stratford

Address correspondence to Rachel Pruchno, PhD, New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 42 East Laurel Road, Suite 2300, Stratford, NJ 08084. Email: pruchnra{at}umdnj.edu


  Abstract

Limited research has examined the ways in which changes in self-rated health experienced by aging spouses affect depressive symptoms of both members of the dyad. Longitudinal data from 315 older couples in which one partner had end-stage renal disease were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Results indicate that for both patients and spouses, own mean self-rated health was associated with own depressive symptoms, and change in self-rated health had a significant negative association with change in own depressive symptoms. Both mean self-rated health of the patient and change in patient's self-rated health had negative relationships with spouse depressive symptoms, with changes in patient's self-rated health having a stronger impact on spouse depressive symptoms than changes in spouse's own self-rated health. Results suggest the importance of understanding physical and mental health in the context of the marital dyad.

Key Words: Depressive symptoms • Marital dyad • Multilevel models • Self-rated health

Received May 28, 2008; Accepted December 11, 2008

Decision Editor: Rosemary Blieszner, PhD


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