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Marital Quality in the Context of Mild Cognitive Impairment

University of Pittsburgh, ligst4{at}pitt.edu.

Mary Amanda Dew

University of Pittsburgh

Bridget Urda

University of Pittsburgh

Jennifer Hagerty Lingler

University of Pittsburgh

Steven T. DeKosky

University of Pittsburgh

Charles F. Reynolds

University of Pittsburgh

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.

Key Words: mild cognitive impairment • caregiving stressors • marital quality

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Western Journal of Nursing Research, Vol. 29, No. 8, 976-992 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0193945907303086


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Garand, L. Articles by Reynolds, C. F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Garand, L. Articles by Reynolds, C. F. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Caregivers Social Bookmarking                         What's this?