Anxiety and depressive disorders in adult children caring for demented parents

Current and lifetime rates of disorders outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev., DSM-III-R) were compared in 78 adult children caring for a parent with a progressive dementia and 78 control subjects. The frequencies of depressive and anxiety disorders did not differ between groups in the years prior to caregiving, and there were no differences between groups in first-degree relatives' incidence of psychiatric disorder. During the years they had been providing care, 34% of caregivers met DSM-III-R criteria: 24% for a depressive disorder and 10% for an anxiety disorder. In contrast, 8% of the matched controls met criteria during the same time period for depressive or anxiety disorders. Results support the chronic strains of caregiving being linked to the onset of both depressive and anxiety disorders in adult children caring for a demented parent.