Marital quality in the context of mild cognitive impairment

Profound behavioral changes in persons with dementia often negatively affect the quality of marital relationships. Yet, little is known about the extent to which the marital relationship may be affected when the care recipient has milder degrees of cognitive impairment. This study characterizes marital quality among 27 adults who live with a spouse with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This study demonstrates that at mild levels of cognitive impairment, specific behaviors in the affected person are distressing and may degrade the quality of the marital relationship. These results have implications for clinical practice and the delivery of health care and social services to these families. It is important to develop interventions to address the needs of these individuals and their caregivers. Results of this study suggest the need for mental health interventions designed to preserve the quality of these marital relationships.