To examine the bidirectional associations between older adult spouses’ cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms over time and replicate previous findings from the United States (US) in Mexico.

Longitudinal, dyadic path analysis with the actor-partner interdependence model.

Data were from the three most recent interview waves (2012, 2015, and 2018) of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a longitudinal national study of adults aged 50+ years in Mexico.

Husbands and wives from 905 community-dwelling married couples (N = 1,810).

The MHAS cognitive battery measured cognitive function. Depressive symptoms were assessed using a modified nine-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Baseline covariates included age, education, number of children, limitation with any activity of daily living, limitation with any instrumental activity of daily living, and pain.

As hypothesized, there were significant within-individual associations in which one person’s own cognitive functioning and own depressive symptoms predicted their own follow-up cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms, respectively. In addition, a person’s own cognitive functioning predicted their own depressive symptoms, and a person’s own depressive symptoms predicted their own cognitive functioning over time. As hypothesized, there was a significant partner association such that one person’s depressive symptoms predicted more depressive symptoms in the partner.

Findings from this study of older Mexican couples replicates findings from studies of older couples in the US, showing that depressive symptoms in one partner predict depressive symptoms in the other partner over time; however, there was no evidence for cognition–depression partner associations over time.

The impact of dementia-related stressors and strains have been examined for their potential to threaten the well-being of either the person with dementia or the family care partner, but rarely have studies considered the dyadic nature of well-being in dementia. The purpose of this study was to examine the dyadic effects of multiple dimensions of strain on the well-being of dementia care dyads.

Using multilevel modeling to account for the inter-relatedness of individual well-being within dementia care dyads, we examined cross-sectional responses collected from 42 dyads comprised of a hospitalized patient diagnosed with a primary progressive dementia (PWD) and their family care partner (CP). Both PWDs and CPs self-reported on their own well-being using measures of quality of life (QOL-Alzheimer’s Disease scale) and depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale).

In adjusted models, the PWD’s well-being (higher QOL and lower depressive symptoms) was associated with significantly less strain in the dyad’s relationship. The CP’s well-being was associated with significantly less care-related strain and (for QOL scale) less relationship strain.

Understanding the impact of dementia on the well-being of PWDs or CPs may require an assessment of both members of the dementia care dyad in order to gain a complete picture of how dementia-related stressors and strains impact individual well-being. These results underscore the need to assess and manage dementia-related strain as a multi-dimensional construct that may include strain related to the progression of the disease, strain from providing care, and strain on the dyad’s relationship quality.