Although depression in Alzheimer's patients is well documented, little is known about effective treatments for this aspect of the disorder. Despite the number of general programs that exist to help caregivers deal with DAT patients, no program has focused on depression nor provided empirically evaluated suggestions for dealing with depression in DAT. This study will provide a controlled trial of behavioral treatment of depression in DAT. Modeled after a successful behavioral treatment program used with younger and older nondemented adults, this program trains caregivers in skills to alleviate the patient's depression. Eighty-four Alzheimer's patient-caregiver pairs are randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: 1) behavioral intervention to train caregivers in skills to alleviate patient depression, 2) treatment-as-usual attention/support treatment, and 3) waiting-list control. All subjects are assessed pre and post treatment; those in the two active conditions are also assessed at 6 and 12 months follow-up. Primary outcome variables are patient depression, assessed by self-report, diagnosis, interviewer ratings, and caregiver report. Secondary variables include patient's prior psychiatric history and cognitive and functional status, and caregiver's depression, burden and marital satisfaction. Questions to be answered by this study are: 1. Are either active treatments effective in alleviating patient depression? 2. Are either more effective than a waiting-list control? Is one active treatment more effective than the other? 3. Is any one active treatment able to establish and maintain post-treatment gains at 6 and 12 months follow-up? Is one treatment more effective than the other? 4. Is improvement in patient depression associated with patient or caregiver variables, such as patient's prior psychiatric history and cognitive and functional status, and caregiver's depression, burden and marital satisfaction?
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