scholarly journals Longitudinal Examination of Emotional Functioning in Older Adults After Spousal Bereavement

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (8) ◽  
pp. 1668-1678
Author(s):  
Ágnes Szabó ◽  
Almar A L Kok ◽  
Aartjan T F Beekman ◽  
Martijn Huisman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Domain Adaptation ◽  
Emotional Functioning ◽  
Spousal Bereavement ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
Emotional Loneliness ◽  
Social Loneliness

Abstract Objectives This study examined trajectories of emotional functioning in three domains (depressive symptoms, emotional, and social loneliness) for individuals who experienced spousal bereavement and investigated cross-domain adaptation. We hypothesized that emotional difficulties after bereavement would be more detectable in emotional loneliness than depressive symptoms or social loneliness. Methods Using latent class growth analysis, we modeled changes in depressive symptoms, emotional loneliness, and social loneliness from 12 years pre- to 12 years post-bereavement on data from 686 older adults to identify trajectories indicating adaptive and maladaptive functioning in each domain. Results Most participants reported depressive symptoms below the clinically relevant threshold by showing a resilient (15.5%) or a slightly elevated (53.5%) trajectory post-bereavement. One third (31%) reported clinically relevant depressive symptoms. More than half of the sample reported emotional loneliness post-bereavement, varying form prolonged (17%), increasing and prolonged (28.3%), and chronically high (8.9%) levels. Remaining participants displayed resilience (13.5%) or recovery (32.3%). Social loneliness showed four trajectories: very low and resilient (43.3%), low and resilient (27.5%), increasing (20.2%), and chronically high (9%) levels. One third of participants maintained adaptive, whereas 12% displayed maladaptive, functioning across all domains post-bereavement. Discussion An increase in emotional loneliness was the most commonly observed change after spousal bereavement. This highlights the central role of emotional loneliness in depression after bereavement.

scholarly journals Profile Groups Based on Lifestyle and Differences in Mental Health and Cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 404-404
Author(s):  
Joseph Kim ◽  
Kyuree Kim
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Mail Survey ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Mean Differences

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify the profiles of older adults according to lifestyle. Data for the study were from the 2017 Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS). CAMS 2017 is a questionnaire mailed to a sub-sample of respondents from the Health and Retirement Study. Participants were limited to older adults 65 and older, and the final sample consisted of 1136 older adults. The sample included 443 men and 693 women. Caucasians comprised 82.0% of the participants. Lifestyle was measured through items assessing the amount of time spent on activities. Due to high skewness, the items were dichotomized, 0=no time spent on activity and 1=time spent on the activity. Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed to identify groups based on lifestyle. LCA is a person-centered approach for identifying unobserved subgroups based on similarity in responses to items. Three lifestyle groups were identified. Group 1 was “Outgoing” with 471 individuals. Group 2 was “Adequate” with 229 individuals. Group 3 was “Inactive” with 436 individuals. An ANOVA was then conducted to assess mean differences in self-rated health, cognition, depressive symptoms, and loneliness for the three lifestyle groups. The “Outgoing” and “Adequate” groups had significantly higher scores on self-rated health and cognition, and in addition, significantly lower scores on depressive symptoms and loneliness compared to the “Inactive” group. No significant differences were observed between the “Outgoing” and “Adequate” groups. An implication from this study is the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle in later life for better mental health and cognition.

scholarly journals Adult Children’s Support and Trajectory of Depressive Symptoms Among Disabled Chinese Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 751-751
Author(s):  
Jianyun Wang ◽  
Renyao Zhong ◽  
Yaolin Pei ◽  
Bei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Lower Risk ◽  
Risk Group ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Instrumental Support ◽  
Growth Mixture Model ◽  
Chinese Older Adults ◽  
Growth Mixture

Abstract This study aimed to examine the trajectory of depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults with disabilities and the role of adult children’s support in predicting trajectory classes of depressive symptoms. Data were drawn from three waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2015). The sample included 1420 disabled older adults age 60+ at the baseline and completed all three waves of the data. Growth mixture model shows two-class depressive symptoms trajectories: the higher risk group (25.49%) and the lower risk group (74.51%). Logistic regression results showed that respondents who received a longer term of adult children’s instrumental support were more likely to be classified in a higher risk group after controlling the covariates (OR=1.184, p<0.05), while financial support and the frequency of contacts were not associated with the increased level of depressive symptoms. The policy implications were also discussed in this study.

The mediating role of disability and social support in the association between low vision and depressive symptoms in older adults

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 1039-1043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gertrudis I. J. M. Kempen ◽  
Adelita V. Ranchor ◽  
Ton Ambergen ◽  
G. A. Rixt Zijlstra
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Mediating Role

Activity Patterns and Health Outcomes in Later Life: The Role of Nature of Engagement

2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 698-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Chih Chen ◽  
Michelle Putnam ◽  
Yung Soo Lee ◽  
Nancy Morrow-Howell
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Health Benefit ◽  
Mail Survey ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Activity Participation ◽  
Activity Engagement ◽  
Design And Methods

Abstract Background and Objectives The health benefit of activity participation at older ages is documented in the current literature. Many studies, however, only explored the health benefits of engaging in a few activities and did not examine mechanisms connecting activity participation to health. We investigated the pathway between activity and health by testing the mediation role of the nature of engagement (physical, cognitive, and social) on physical, mental, and cognitive health of older adults. Research Design and Methods We analyzed data of 6,044 older adults from the 2010 and 2012 Health and Retirement Study linked with 2011 Consumption and Activity Mail Survey. We used latent class analysis to identify the patterns of participating in 33 activities as well as patterns of nature of engagement, and examined how these patterns were associated with cognition, depressive symptoms, and self-rated health in later life. Results Meaningful patterns of activity (high, medium, low, passive leisure, and working) and the nature of activity engagement (full, partial, and minimal) were identified. High and working groups, compared to the passive leisure group, showed better health and cognition outcomes. The nature of engagement mediated the relationship between activity patterns and health, especially for older adults who were either full or partially engaged. Discussion and Implications The nature of engagement may play a more important role than the activity itself in relation to health. Identifying the heterogeneity in activity engagement in later life is critical for tailoring interventions and designing programs that can improve the health of older adults.

Childhood adversities, urbanisation and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults: evidence from a national survey in China

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 1031-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
FAN YANG ◽  
VIVIAN W. Q. LOU
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Childhood Adversities ◽  
Equal Distribution ◽  
Registration System

ABSTRACTThe trajectory of modern China, namely from dire poverty and communist fever to economic boom and marketisation under an authoritarian regime, makes the country a unique social laboratory for examining how social environment affects human development of individuals. This study investigated the correlation between childhood adversity and depressive symptoms of Chinese middle-aged and older adults, as well as how urbanisation moderates the correlation. A sub-sample (N = 14,681) of the baseline of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study was analysed. Seven variables were used in the latent class analysis to establish a childhood adversity typology. Three urbanisation statuses were identified according to theHukou(household registration system) status and neighbourhood type: non-urbanised, semi-urbanised and fully urbanised. The correlation between childhood adversity and depressive symptoms and the moderation of urbanization on the correlation were assessed with factorial analysis of covariance. Three latent classes for childhood adversities were identified: ‘normal childhood class', ‘low childhood socio-economic status and health class' and ‘traumatic childhood class'. The class membership was significantly correlated with depressive symptoms (p = 0.015), and the urbanisation status, also significantly affecting depressive symptoms (p = 0.05), had significant moderating effect on the correlation (p = 0.002). It is suggested that more social inclusive policies need to be adopted in order to guarantee the equal distribution of wellbeing led by urbanisation.

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