Childhood maltreatment, late-life depression, and sense of coherence: a structural equation modeling.

OBJECTIVES: Late-life depression is a severe problem leading to adverse consequences in the lives of seniors. Pervasive evidence emphasizes that childhood maltreatment is one of determining factors in late-life depression. The literature suggests a complicated mechanism underlying this relationship. This study aimed to examine whether the sense of coherence (SOC) mediated and moderated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and late-life depression. METHOD: This study sample included 237 community-dwelling older adults (aged 60-97) with a mean of 69.23 years and standard deviation = 6.87, from November to December 2019 in Tehran. A face-to-face interview was done, and the data was collected based on a multistage sampling approach and analyzed with the structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Childhood maltreatment was positively associated with depression while negatively correlated with the SOC in older adults. A low level of SOC was also correlated with symptoms of depression. In addition, the SOC partly mediated the association between childhood maltreatment and late-life depression. However, no moderation effect of SOC was found. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood maltreatment may be linked with late-life depression. Part of this relationship is highly likely indirect, through the effect of SOC, which could inform intervention efforts to promote the level of SOC to alleviate symptoms of depression in seniors.

Belief in an Afterlife Influences Altruistic Helping Intentions in Alignment With Adaptive Tendencies.

Evolutionary definitions of altruism are only concerned with reproductive consequences and not motives or other psychological mechanisms, making them ideal for generalization to all forms of organisms. Hamilton's inclusive fitness theory explains altruistic behavior toward genetic relatives and has generated extensive empirical support. Trivers' theory of reciprocal altruism helps explain patterns of helping among non-kin, and other research has demonstrated that human helping intentions follow fitness consequences from age-based reproductive value on altruism. The current study examines a novel psychological factor, belief in the afterlife, which may influence altruistic helping intentions. Belief in the afterlife was incorporated into a previous study design assessing the effects of a target's genetic relatedness and age-based reproductive value. The influences of inclusive fitness and target age were reproduced in a non-Western sample of participants (N = 300) in Iran. Belief in the afterlife predicted the overall confidence of risking one's life to save another across all targets, and also moderated the effects of genetic relatedness and target age. Rather than promoting altruism equitably or advantaging those favored by adaptive tendencies, higher belief in an afterlife aligned with these tendencies in promoting further favoritism toward close kin and younger targets with higher reproductive value.