Possible Selves and Depressive Symptoms in Later Life

This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by SAGE Publications and can be found at: http://www.sagepub.com/journals/Journal200862The pursuit of personal goals has been linked to general psychological well-being, however, less is known about the association with depression in later adulthood when individuals are contending with age-related changes in health and social relationships. We explored the connection between both health and social relation goals (as measured by possible selves) and depressive symptoms in a sample of 85 community-dwelling older adults who ranged in age from 60 – 92 years (M = 74, SD = 7.5). Participants took part in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews in which they responded to measures of possible selves (future images of oneself), health, and depressive symptoms. We found that the presence of health-related, but not social-related, possible selves was significantly associated with fewer reported depressive symptoms. Additionally, the presence of health-related fears was specifically linked to fewer reported depressive symptoms. These findings suggested that the promotion of and investment in health-related personal goals may be useful in off-setting depressive symptoms in older adults, as well as indicated a potential benefit of a disease prevention focus regarding health in later life. Finally, the results may have implications for potential clinical interventions in addressing late life depression