Mental health problems in the husband can have various effects on the wife. Depressed husbands tend to demonstrate less affection and have less involvement with household chores and child care. They may also try to exert more dominance and allow less cooperative decision-making. Caring for a spouse with dementia can cause more distress for wives than husbands, partly because women tend to handle the care-giving role differently. Physically abusive husbands cause poor self-esteem and other mental health problems in their wives.