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Depression Among Recipients of Informal Care: The Effects of Reciprocity, Respect, and Adequacy of Support

¹ Department of Health Policy & Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
² Department of Population and Family Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.

Address correspondence to Jennifer L. Wolff, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Rm. 692, Baltimore, MD 21205. E-mail: jwolff{at}jhsph.edu

Objectives. The objective of this work was to examine the relationship of perceived quality of care to depression among recipients of informal long-term care.

Methods. Generalized estimating equations were used to generate population-average logistic regression models of prevalent depression, using a sample of 420 disabled community-dwelling women aged 65 or older receiving informal care obtained from the Women's Health and Aging Study Caregiving Survey.

Results. Findings confirm a substantial prevalence of depression among older women with disabilities and support the hypothesis that perceived reciprocity and respect afforded by one's primary caregiver as well as adequacy of instrumental support all were associated with a lower likelihood of being categorized as depressed, even after controlling for sociodemographic, health, and psychosocial characteristics that are known to be related to depression.

Discussion. Perceived quality of informal care arrangements has a bearing on the psychological health of care recipients. Individuals in more reciprocal relationships and in relationships where they felt respected and valued were less likely to be depressed than their counterparts.