Couple similarities for cognitive functions and psychological health

Spouse correlations for cognitive functions and psychological state were investigated using data on 31 spouse pairs. Subjects were part of the Epidemiology of Vascular Aging (EVA) study, a longitudinal study on cognitive and vascular aging. Between July 1991 and June 1993, 1389 subjects aged 59 to 7...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of clinical epidemiology 2000-06, Vol.53 (6), p.589-593
Main Authors: Dufouil, Carole, Alpérovitch, Annick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aging - psychology
Alcohol Drinking
Analysis. Health state
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Depression - psychology
Educational Status
Epidemiology
Female
General aspects
Humans
Intelligence Tests
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Marriage
Marriage - psychology
Medical sciences
Memory
Mental Health
Middle Aged
Psychological health
Psychomotor Performance
Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
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Summary:Spouse correlations for cognitive functions and psychological state were investigated using data on 31 spouse pairs. Subjects were part of the Epidemiology of Vascular Aging (EVA) study, a longitudinal study on cognitive and vascular aging. Between July 1991 and June 1993, 1389 subjects aged 59 to 71 years old were recruited, including 318 couples. Cognitive tests assessed global functioning, verbal fluency, attention, verbal memory, psychomotor speed, and logical intelligence. Depressive symptoms and anxiety levels were assessed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and Spielberger Scale, respectively. Statistically significant positive spouse correlations were found for both psychological scales, spousal similarity being higher for depressive symptoms ( r = 0.31, P < 0.0001) than anxiety level ( r = 0.13, P = 0.04). When controlling for age, education level, and psychotropic drug use, these associations were not modified. Except for attention and psychomotor speed, significant positive spouse correlations, ranging from 0.18 for logical intelligence to 0.36 for global functioning, were observed for all cognitive performances. When adjusting for age, education level, and depressive symptoms, correlation coefficients decreased and spouse correlations remained significant for global assessments and verbal fluency. These results suggest that, in the elderly, spouse correlations are high for depressive symptoms and rather moderate for anxiety levels and cognitive performances.
ISSN:0895-4356
1878-5921
DOI:10.1016/S0895-4356(99)00189-4