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Lost in Summation: Depression Among African American Female Caregivers and Noncaregivers

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Abstract

Ethnic differences in mental health have been established using large between-group research designs. Across ethnicity, studies have found that caregivers are at increased risk for depression, but little is known about within-group variability in depressive symptomatology. African American caregivers and noncaregivers were compared on different factors of depressive symptoms as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression subscales. Caregivers reported significantly less positive affect than noncaregivers. Rates were similar for negative affect, somatic complaints, and interpersonal relations. Depression may present itself in different ways among African Americans in the caregiving context, and results suggest information may be lost when global measures of depression are used.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by ADRC/N.I.A. grant #AG08012, awarded through the University Memory and Aging Center of University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University.

Postdoctoral support for Dr. Spencer was provided by the W. K. Kellogg Health Scholars Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106-7123, USA

    T. J. McCallum

  2. Center for Minority Health, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    S. Melinda Spencer

  3. Center on Aging and Department of Community Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    R. Turner Goins

Authors
  1. T. J. McCallum
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  2. S. Melinda Spencer
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  3. R. Turner Goins
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Correspondence to T. J. McCallum.

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McCallum, T.J., Spencer, S.M. & Goins, R.T. Lost in Summation: Depression Among African American Female Caregivers and Noncaregivers. J Cross Cult Gerontol 23, 77–84 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-007-9049-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-007-9049-z

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