Etiologic factors in the onset of depressive symptoms in older adults.

Examined the additive and interactive roles of 6 sociodemographic factors (education, age, sex, marital status, parental depression, and early parental death), 3 resources (health, social support, and locus of control), and 3 categories of life events (bereavement, health problem, and loss events) in the development of depressive symptoms. A probability sample of 1,233 persons (aged 55+ yrs) were interviewed twice in their homes, with a 6-mo interval between Times 1 and 2. All Ss were below a Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) cutoff point of 16 at Time 1. An onset group (n?=?66) was identified that had increases in depression to above a CES-D cut point of 20 at Time 2. A hierarchical discriminant analysis revealed significant effects for the following factors after initial symptom levels were statistically controlled: physical health, social support, social support and health interaction, loss events, and the interaction of social support and loss events. It is concluded that health and social support played both additive and interactive roles, life events had weak effects, and sociodemographic factors did not contribute to depressive onset in the Ss studied. (85 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)