LONGITUDINAL EFFECTS OF OWN AND PARTNER DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS ON MULTIMORBIDITY IN AGING COUPLES

• Published in: Innovation in aging 2017-07, Vol.1 (suppl_1), p.1212-1212
• Main Authors: Polenick, C., Renn, B.N., Birditt, K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abstracts
• ISSN: 2399-5300; 2399-5300
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igx004.4407

Multimorbidity (i.e., multiple chronic conditions) among middle-aged and older adults is an increasingly prevalent public health concern. Depressive symptoms are linked to a heightened risk of multimorbidity, yet little is known about mutual influences between depressive symptoms and chronic health conditions that may occur within aging couples. Utilizing a U.S. sample of 1,038 consistently married heterosexual couples (M = 63.51 years at baseline) drawn from five waves (1996 – 2014) of the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we examined the effects of wives’ and husbands’ baseline depressive symptoms (as assessed by the 8-item CES-D) on their own and their partner’s number of chronic conditions across an 8-year period. We also considered whether these links varied by gender. Dyadic growth curve models controlled for baseline length of marriage and marital quality along with age, education, minority status, body mass index, disability status, alcohol use, smoking status, and physical activity. For wives and husbands, elevated depressive symptoms at baseline were significantly linked to an overall higher number of chronic conditions. Beyond these associations, when wives had elevated depressive symptoms at baseline, husbands reported significant increases in their number of chronic conditions over time. This study demonstrates that depressive symptoms are linked to multimorbidity within aging couples, and that wives’ depressive symptoms may have long-term negative health consequences for husbands. Findings highlight the value of considering the health effects of depressive symptoms in middle and later life from both individual and couple perspectives.