Dyadic adjustment for younger individuals following stroke: A cross-sectional study.

Small sample: 34 couples, and the data come from an exploratory pilot, so the study was not built to detect small differences and the researchers say they could not analyse some contributing factors. Cross-sectional, so it cannot show that role dissatisfaction causes depression or the reverse. This secondary analysis was not pre-registered, and the age split at 55 is one of several cut-offs used in the literature; a different cut-off could have produced different groups. Participants were mostly White and well-educated, and couples with severe cognitive impairment or aphasia that interfered with participation were left out, so these findings may not fit a broader caseload. Nobody's mental health or relationship stress was measured before the stroke, so pre-existing difficulties cannot be separated out.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest and state that no commercial party with a direct financial interest in the results has or will confer a benefit on them or their organisations. The original pilot trial was registered, but this secondary analysis was not.

Do not read this as younger couples being more depressed after stroke. Depression scores did not differ significantly between the younger and older groups; the only significant difference was that care partners in older couples were more satisfied with their social roles, and because the study is cross-sectional it cannot show that age or role satisfaction causes anything.