Table 1.
Background Characteristics and Key Variables for Caregiving Wives and Husbands
| Caregiving wives (n = 210) | Caregiving husbands (n = 149) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | M | SD | M | SD |
| CG Age in years | 71.51*** | 9.52 | 76.18 | 7.43 |
| CR Age in years | 77.90*** | 7.55 | 75.38 | 7.08 |
| CG Chronic conditions | 2.06** | 1.33 | 1.66 | 1.26 |
| CR Chronic conditions | 3.04 | 1.50 | 3.06 | 1.41 |
| CG ADL/IADL assistance | 5.60*** | 2.45 | 4.49 | 2.38 |
| CG Medical care activities | 5.76*** | 3.18 | 4.04 | 2.88 |
| CG Informal support | 1.78 | 1.01 | 1.62 | 1.04 |
| CG Emotional difficulties | 1.70*** | 1.79 | 0.72 | 1.25 |
| CG Physical difficulties | 1.42*** | 1.78 | 0.52 | 1.10 |
| CG Caregiving gains | 3.56 | 0.44 | 3.53 | 0.49 |
| Proportions | ||||
| CG Educational attainment | ||||
| High school graduate | .34 | .25 | ||
| Some college | .19 | .22 | ||
| College graduate | .08 | .14 | ||
| Post graduate | .06 | .09 | ||
| CG Employed for pay | .16 | .13 | ||
| CG Paid help | .21 | .18 | ||
| CR Dementia status | .22** | .11 | ||
Note: ADL = activities of daily living; CG = caregiver; CR = care recipient; IADL = instrumental activities of daily living; SD = standard deviation. N = 359 spousal caregivers.
*Indicates a significant difference between caregiving wives and husbands at p ≤ .05.
**Indicates a significant difference between caregiving wives and husbands at p ≤ .01.
***Indicates a significant difference between caregiving wives and husbands at p ≤ .001.