The Role of Sources of Informal Care on Depressive Symptoms in Older Mexican Americans

Research on informal caregiving has focused on caregivers, with less attention paid to how caregiving relationships impact care recipients' mental health. Understanding how different sources of care influence depressive symptoms is crucial for designing more effective, culturally appropriate interventions for older adults.

We used data from the seventh wave of the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (H-EPESE; n = 760). We examined the association between depressive symptoms and sources of care for Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) disability in older Mexican Americans aged 80+. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CESD) scale. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to model the relationship between depressive symptoms and care sources, adjusting for demographic and health covariates.

The average CESD score among care recipients was 10.71. Sources of care include 45% self-care, 67% family care, and 22% non-family care. Regression analysis showed that self-care significantly reduced depressive symptoms (-4.41, p ≤ .01), family care reduced symptoms (-1.98, p ≤ .01), while non-family care increased depressive symptoms (4.03, p ≤ .01).

Findings highlight the importance of family-centered caregiving and suggest key policy implications: implementation of caregiver skills training, peer support groups, and targeted mental health resources.