Psychiatry: life events and social support in late life depression
Clinics
; 66(2): 233-238, 2011. tab
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-581507
Responsible library:
BR1.1
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To examine the association of life events and social support in the broadly defined category of depression in late life.INTRODUCTION:
Negative life events and lack of social support are associated with depression in the elderly. Currently, there are limited studies examining the association between life events, social support and late-life depression in Brazil.METHODS:
We estimated the frequency of late-life depression within a household community sample of 367 subjects aged 60 years or greater with associated factors. ''Old age symptomatic depression'' was defined using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 1.1 tool. This diagnostic category included only late-life symptoms and consisted of the diagnoses of depression and dysthymia as well as a subsyndromal definition of depression, termed ''late subthreshold depression''. Social support and life events were assessed using the Comprehensive Assessment and Referral Evaluation (SHORT-CARE) inventory.RESULTS:
''Old age symptomatic depression'' occurred in 18.8 percent of the patients in the tested sample. In univariate analyses, this condition was associated with female gender, lifetime anxiety disorder and living alone. In multivariate models, ''old age symptomatic depression'' was associated with a perceived lack of social support in men and life events in women.DISCUSSION:
Social support and life events were determined to be associated with late-life depression, but it is important to keep in mind the differences between genders. Also, further exploration of the role of lifetime anxiety disorder in late-life depression may be of future importance.CONCLUSIONS:
We believe that this study helps to provide insight into the role of psychosocial factors in late-life depression.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
LILACS
Main subject:
Social Support
/
Aging
/
Depression
/
Life Change Events
Type of study:
Etiology study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Aspects:
Social determinants of health
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
Clinics
Journal subject:
Medicine
Year:
2011
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Federal University of Ceara/BR
/
University of Saio Paulo/BR
/
University of São Paulo/BR