Predictors of depression among wife caregivers.

The relationship of caregiver health, past marital adjustment, and received social support to depression was studied in 78 wives who served as primary caregivers to husbands with irreversible memory impairment. In addition, socioeconomic status and attitudes toward seeking help were investigated. The mean age of the wives was 68 years, and the mean length of time they had been caring for their husbands in the home was 4 years, 10 months. Only caregiver health and attitude toward asking for help were significant, p = .001, predictors of depression and accounted for 27% of the total explained variance.