• Michele J Siegel, Elizabeth H Bradley, William T Gallo, and Stanislav V Kasl.
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA. msiegel@aecom.yu.edu
• J Aging Health. 2004 Jun 1; 16 (3): 398-425.

ObjectiveTo estimate the effect of spousal depressive symptoms and physical health on respondents' depressive symptoms in a national sample of older married couples.MethodWe used data on 5,035 respondent husbands and wives from the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Survey. Multivariate regression models were estimated to examine the impact of spousal depressive symptoms and physical health on respondents' depressive symptoms.ResultsAdjusting for respondent mental and physical health and sociodemographic traits, having a spouse with more depressive symptoms was associated with significantly higher follow-up depressive symptoms in the respondent (p < .001). Controlling for spousal depressive symptoms, a decline in the spouses' physical health was associated with a significant reduction in respondent depressive symptoms (p < .05).DiscussionOur findings suggest that health care providers treating older adults should be sensitive to the possibility that spouses may be affected when clients suffer poor mental or physical health.

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