Stress, psychosocial resources, and depression among the oldest -old.

As life expectancy increases and baby boomers age, American society has grown old rapidly, resulting in a dramatic increase in the demographic projections for the oldest-old. Late-life depression is one of the most common mental health problems. Many studies note that stress is a critical risk factor leading to depression, whereas psychosocial resources protect against depression. Thus, there is an increasing need to understand the stress-coping process particularly among the oldest-old, as existing studies have focused on predominantly those who are young-old. In addition, there are a limited number of longitudinal studies on the relationships among stress, psychosocial resources, and depression among the oldest-old. As a result, little is known not only about the changes in stress, psychosocial resources, and depression, but also about the relationships among the changes in those factors in the oldest ages. In order to address these limitations, the dissertation aimed to achieve three goals: (1) to examine the individual changes in depression and associated factors over time among the oldest-old; (2) to test whether the relationships among stress, psychosocial resources, and depression identified among older populations are replicated among the oldest-old; and (3) to test the longitudinal relationships among stress, psychosocial resources, and depression among the oldest-old. The study used a convenience sample of 193 community-dwelling elders aged 85 and over. The first interview was conducted in 1986 with three follow-up interviews conducted over an 18-month period between 1986 and 1988. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling analyses. The findings on trajectories indicate that depressive symptoms, daily hassles, and mastery increase over time. The cross-sectional results show that greater positive life events are associated with lower levels of depression, and that increased hassles are associated with greater depression. The longitudinal results indicate that elders who experience a faster increase in positive life events and a faster decrease in hassles report a faster decrease in depression. For psychosocial resources, a greater sense of mastery is associated with decreased depression both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. By contrast, social support is not significantly associated with depression. Study limitations and implications for social work research and interventions are discussed.PhDClinical psychologyGerontologyPsychologySocial SciencesSocial workUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/125108/2/3186656.pd