ABSTRACT
York University Spouse-Caregiver Intervention Study pro-
vided an ideal context in which to study the long-term im -
pact of caregiver intervention on depressive symptoms.
Over 9.5 years, 406 spouse-caregivers, enrolled in two suc-
cessive cohorts, were random ly assigned to either en -
hanced counseling and support intervention or to usual
care, which served as a control condition. The project is
unique in that it has followed caregivers for a long period
of time, with little attrition. Results from the first 206 sub-
jects enrolled in the project have been reported previously
(6, 7) and indicate that the intervention had an increas-
ingly stronger effect on depressive symptom s in the first
year after enrollm ent (6). Analyses of the entire study
group of 406 caregivers and of the long-term effects of the
intervention on depressive sym ptom s beyond the first
year have not heretofore been reported.
