Table 1.

Descriptive Characteristics of Care Dyad Participants at Baseline

Caregiver
Kin relationship and Gender:
Female adult offspring N (%)	98 (41.88)
Female spouse N (%)	80 (34.19)
Male adult offspring N (%)	22 (9.40)
Male spouse N (%)	34 (14.53)
Age M (SD)	69.47 (14.0)
Education in years M (SD)	14.2 (2.37)
Number of medical conditions M (SD)	1.91 (1.45)
Number of follow-up visits
All participants M (SD)	2.35 (2.31)
Participants with more than one visit	3.13 (2.16)
Relationship Closeness at Baseline M (SD)	18.9 (4.04)
Closeness Change M (SD)	−0.60 (3.02)
Affect Balance M (SD)	7.59 (1.97)
Beck Depression Inventory M (SD)	8.07 (9.03)
SF-12 Mental Health Component M (SD)	50.50 (9.18)
SF-12 Physical Health Component M (SD)	49.89 (10.72)
Care recipient
Male N (%)	112 (48)
Female N (%)	122 (52)
Age M (SD)	82.0 (6.22)
Possible/Probable Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis N (%)	144 (61.54)
Dementia duration in years M (SD)	3.29 (1.80)

Note: Caregivers were observed between 0.8 – 14.8 years after dementia onset. Negative scores in Closeness Change indicate a greater loss of closeness from predementia levels to postdementia levels