Neuropsychiatric symptoms and caregiver relationship quality for older Mexican Americans

March 10, 2022

Maria Aranda, PhD, MSW, MPA, LCSW, member of the IMPACT Health Equity Team Executive Committee, co-authored this article examining how neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) can affect relationship quality between Mexican American caregivers and care recipients.

Caregivers play a key role in supporting older Mexican Americans, who are less likely to enter nursing facilities than other racial/ethnic groups in the US. Using data from the 2015 wave of the Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (H-EPESE) (n = 416) study of older (age 85+) Mexican Americans, the authors examined relationship quality and NPS with ordered logistic regression. Relationship quality was measured using positive (enjoyment, appreciation) and negative (nerves, argue) assessments. NPS were categorized into hyperactivity, affective, and psychosis symptoms.

The authors found that relationship quality is related to behavioral changes in late life. Mexican American caregivers negatively evaluate their relationships, not in response to care tasks per se, but when the older person exhibits behavioral problems. The relationship between NPS and negative relationship assessments may be due to unanticipated behavior changes in late life and stigma around psychiatric symptomatology.