Age Differences and Similarities in the Correlates of Depressive Symptoms

Transcription

1 Psychology and Aging Copyright 2002 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 2002, Vol. 17, No. 1, /02/$5.00 DOI: // Age Differences and Similarities in the Correlates of Depressive Symptoms Susan Nolen-Hoeksema and Cheryl Ahrens University of Michigan The authors investigated whether several life events or concerns were differentially related to depressive symptoms across 3 adult age groups (young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults). They examined the relationships of 2 measures of depressive symptoms to work status and satisfaction, relationship status and satisfaction, loneliness, recent losses, parenting strain, and caregiving. Some differences between age groups in these relationships were found. Yet, most results suggested that, although the frequency with which people experience specific life events or concerns varies across the adult life span, the relationships between these events or concerns and depressive symptoms are similar across age groups. Do the life events or concerns associated with depressive symptoms vary across adult age groups? That is, when adults become depressed, do the events or concerns they report to family, friends, clinicians, or researchers depend on whether they are in young, middle, or older adulthood? At least two theoretical perspectives would suggest that the answer to these questions is yes. First, life span developmental theories argue that the salience of various issues changes over the adult life span (e.g., Erikson, 1963; Levinson, 1978; McAdams, St. Aubin, & Logan, 1993). These theories suggest that well-being at any given period in the adult life span will be more strongly associated with concerns related to the salient issues of that period than with issues more salient at other periods. Second, life events theorists have suggested that events that are not expected or normative for a particular period in the life span will have greater impact on the well-being of individuals in that period than for individuals in periods of the life span in which those events are expected or normative (Neugarten, 1979; Pearlin & Lieberman, 1979). For example, the loss of a spouse will be more strongly related to depression in younger adults than older adults because spousal loss is less expected or normative in young adulthood than in older adulthood (Glick, Weiss, & Parkes 1974; Hurwicz, Durham, Boyd-Davis, Gatz, & Bengston, 1992; Lopata, 1973). Alternatively, it could happen that depressed adults of different ages report different events or concerns only because there are age differences in the prevalence of these events or concerns. That is, specific negative life events or concerns may be equally likely to be associated with depressive symptoms across age groups, but the frequency with which people experience these events or concerns varies across the life span. For example, unemployment may be Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan; Cheryl Ahrens, School of Social Work, University of Michigan. This study was supported by Public Health Service Grant MH to Susan Nolen-Hoeksema. We thank Hiroko Akiyama, Toni Antonucci, Abigail Stewart, and Elizabeth Douvan for comments on the manuscript. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 525 East University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan Electronic mail may be sent to nolen@umich.edu. equally associated with depressive symptoms in both young and middle-aged adults, but it is a more frequent experience among young adults than older adults (Hughes, Blazer, & George, 1988) and thus would more likely be reported by a depressed young adult than a depressed middle-aged adult. It is important from both theoretical and applied perspectives to understand whether age differences in the concerns reported by depressed people represent differences in the relationships between these concerns and depressive symptoms at various points in the life span or simply age differences in the prevalence of these concerns. As noted, both life span developmental theories and normative life events theories suggest that the relationship between certain concerns or events and depressive symptoms should vary by age group. If this is not the case, or is only true in some domains, then some modifications or clarifications of these theories may be necessary. From an applied perspective, it would be useful for clinicians and researchers to know whether certain life events or concerns are more depressogenic for some age groups than for others. In this article, we examine the relationship between several concerns and depressive symptoms in a sample of adults, randomly chosen from the community, who fall into three age groups: 25- to 35-year-olds (referred to as young adults), 45- to 55-year-olds (referred to as middle-aged adults), and 65- to 75-year-olds (referred to as older adults). Although these three groups do not cover the entire adult age span, they represent three groups facing different life circumstances and possessing different social histories. Only a few studies have examined the relationships between life events and depressive symptoms across much of the adult life span, and most of these studies focus on just one or two life events (e.g., bereavement or unemployment). We organize our review of this literature around two broad domains that have relevance to life span developmental theories or have been the focus of studies of the impact of nonnormative life events: work and social relationships. We review studies that have examined the influence of either specific events in these domains or more subjective concerns people might have about these domains. Work Expectations about being satisfactorily employed are likely to vary across the adult life span, and thus violations of these expec- 116

2 AGE AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS 117 tations may have greater impact on psychological health in some age groups than in others. Alternatively, not being satisfactorily employed may be associated with elevated depressive symptoms at all age levels. Unemployment Although life span developmental theories suggest that becoming employed is a major life goal for young adults, they also suggest that employment and career concerns continue to be salient through middle adulthood until retirement age (Levinson, 1978; Valliant, 1977; Vandewater, Ostrove, & Stewart, 1997). In addition, unemployment is less common, and thus less normative, among middle-aged adults than among young or older adults (Hughes et al., 1988). Thus, both life span theories and normative life events perspectives suggest unemployment will be more strongly related to depressive symptoms among middle-aged adults than among younger or older adults. Job Security and Satisfaction Similarly, life span theories suggest that concerns about whether one s job is secure and whether one is on a satisfactory career trajectory will be more strongly related to depressive symptoms in middle-aged than in younger adults, because these concerns tap issues of generativity and productivity (McAdams et al., 1993). These theories suggest that job security and satisfaction will continue to be associated with depressive symptoms in older adults. Krause and Baker (1992), however, found that the impact of financial strain on distress among older adults depended on their economic values only those older adults who felt financial success was very important showed a significant relationship between financial strain and depressive symptoms. Taken together, these results and the life span theories suggest that job satisfaction and security will be more consistently and strongly related to depressive symptoms in middle-aged adults than in older or younger adults. These hypotheses are supported by a number of studies that have found a U-shaped relationship between age and occupational well-being, such that middle-aged workers report less job satisfaction and lower well-being on the job than both younger and older people (see reviews by Warr, 1998, 1999). In a study of 1,686 adults employed in a wide array of jobs, Warr (1992) found that this U-shaped relationship remained significant even after taking into account job characteristics, work values, and demographics. Thus, on the basis of life span and normative life events theories, we predicted that both unemployment and dissatisfaction with one s job would be more strongly associated with depressive symptoms in the middle-aged adults than in the younger or older adults. Social Relationships Social relationships are important to well-being at all ages (Carstensen, 1998), but the kinds of social relationship problems associated with depressive symptoms may vary across the adult life span. In this study, we examined the impact of four dimensions of social relationships: the status and quality of adult relationships, recent losses in close relationships, the quality of the parenting experience, and caregiving to an ill or frail family member. Adult Relationships Life span developmental theories suggest that forming a longlasting close adult relationship, as through marriage, is a major task of young adulthood. Hurwicz et al. (1992) found that 47% of young adults (M age 33 ) listed marriage as the event having the greatest impact on them in the last several, compared with only about 6% of middle-aged adults (M age 57 ) and older adults (M age 78 ). Becoming married was related to lower depressive symptoms in the young adults but was unrelated to depressive symptoms in the older adults. Very few of the older adults were recently married, however, which probably accounts for the lack of association between becoming married and depressive symptoms in the older adults. In addition, life span theories suggest that, although forming close committed relationships is a major task of young adulthood, having strong close relationships continues to be important throughout adulthood. Thus, these theories would suggest that the quality of one s close adult relationships would be related to depressive symptoms in all adult age groups (Antonucci & Akiyama, 1997; Crosby, 1983; Verbrugge, 1982). That is, being married or partnered may be related to fewer depressive symptoms in any age group if that partnership provides a sense of affirmation and intimacy but to more depressive symptoms if it provides conflict and loneliness (Vandewater et al., 1997; Vanfossen, 1981). The normativeness of not being married clearly varies by age group. There are major historical trends toward delay of first marriage and toward increases in the prevalence of dissolution of marriage through divorce and in cohabiting but not marrying (Myers, 1999). It is increasingly normative for young adults not to have married yet, to be divorced, and to be cohabiting with a life partner to whom they are not legally married. Thus, normative life events perspectives suggest that being single (i.e., never married), separated or divorced, or cohabiting with a partner is less likely to be associated with high levels of depressive symptoms in young adults than in older adults. Thus, on the basis of normative life events perspectives, we predicted that being in a nonnormative partnership status (e.g., being never married or cohabitating but not married for older adults) would be associated with higher depressive symptoms. Recent Losses Loss of a spouse or partner through death is much more common for older adults than younger adults (Hurwicz et al., 1992). Some studies suggest that bereavement is less associated with depressive symptoms among older adults than among younger adults, because it is expected and normative (Glick et al., 1974; Hurwicz et al., 1992; Lichtenstein, Gatz, Pedersen, Berg, & Mc- Clearn, 1996; Lopata, 1973). This idea suggests that bereavement will be more often reported by both depressed and nondepressed older adults but will be more strongly related to depressive symptoms among younger adults than older adults. Parenting The second most salient life event for young adults in the study by Hurwicz et al. (1992) was the birth of a child, with 44% of this group listing it as a salient event, compared with less than 1% of

3 118 NOLEN-HOEKSEMA AND AHRENS the older age groups. Yet, the birth of a child was not differentially related to depressive symptoms across age groups, and indeed, even among the young adults, the birth of a child was unrelated to depressive symptoms. Again, it may be the quality of parenting experiences rather than the presence or absence of children in the home that is related to depressive symptoms. Children not only bring joy to a home but can also put great strains on parents because of frequent illnesses, misbehavior, problems in finding adequate child care, and so on. Excessive parenting strains, and not the presence or absence of children in the home, may be correlated with depressive symptoms (Cowan & Cowan, 1988). The kinds of strains parents experience will differ depending on the age of their children. Yet, the resources parents can use to cope with parenting strains may vary with the parents age. Middle-aged parents are more likely to have financial resources to pay for good child care and the maturity to cope effectively with their children s problems than are younger parents. For older adults, parenting strains are unlikely to affect psychological health simply because these adults are less likely to be actively parenting children. Thus, we predicted that parenting strains would be more strongly associated with depressive symptoms in younger adults than in middle-aged adults, the two groups most likely to have dependent children living at home. Caregiving Being a caregiver to an ill or frail family member can be stressful and is associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms (Stephens & Franks, 1999b). The number of adults who are caregivers to others is higher among older adults than among middle-aged or younger adults, because more people are providing care to their spouses and possibly to their parents or parents-in-law (Zarit & Eggebeen, 1995). In addition, many older adults are coping with their own health problems as well as those of their spouses or parents. Thus, we might expect caregiving to be more strongly associated with depressive symptoms in older adults than in middle-aged or younger adults. Yet, middle-aged adults are especially likely to be providing care for their own children while caring for sick or older parents (Stephens & Franks, 1999a, 1999b). They may find themselves carrying out daily tasks of living for their parents, doing shopping and cleaning, paying bills, and so on. They may also be providing direct medical care to frail and sickly parents (Zarit & Eggebeen, 1995). At the same time, caregivers with children are shuttling their children to various activities, helping them with homework, and attending to their emotional needs. All the while, most caregivers are also in the paid workforce. The demands of these various roles can be great and may contribute to more depressive symptoms (Martire, Stephens, & Atienza, 1997). This idea suggests that being a caregiver to an ill or older family member may be more related to depressive symptoms in middle age than in younger or older age because it is more likely to be coupled with caregiving for one s own young children, thus creating excessive role burdens. The Present Study In summary, on the basis of life span and normative life events theories, we predicted that (a) unemployment and dissatisfaction with one s job would be more strongly associated with depressive symptoms in the middle-aged adults than in the younger or older adults, (b) the quality of close relationships would be associated with depressive symptoms in all age groups, (c) being never married or cohabiting but not married would be associated with higher depressive symptoms for older adults than for middle-aged or younger adults, (d) recent bereavement would be more strongly related to depressive symptoms among younger adults than older adults, (e) parenting strains would be more strongly associated with depressive symptoms in younger adults than in middle-aged adults, and (f) being a caregiver would be most strongly associated with depressive symptoms either in older adults or middle-aged adults and least strongly associated in younger adults. We also tested the alternative hypothesis that the frequency of reports of these events or concerns would vary across age groups but they would be equally related to depressive symptoms across age groups. Participants Method The participants were adults living in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. These adults were recruited through random-digit dialing of telephone numbers in San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland, California. We chose these communities because of their ethnic diversity. Details of the sampling procedures are given in Nolen-Hoeksema, Larson, and Grayson (1999). Briefly, residential phone numbers in these communities were chosen randomly and then called. The person answering the phone was asked whether anyone living in the household was between the ages of 25 and 35, 45 and 55, or 65 and 75. These age groups were targeted to ensure that we had sufficient samples of young, middle-aged, and older adults in the study. Only one person per household was recruited into the study. The rate of agreement to participate in the study was 74% for a final sample size of 1,132. All participants were interviewed in person, usually at the participant s home, by an extensively trained interviewer. Three hundred ninety-five of the participants were in the year-old group (M age 31.8; SD 3.3; 54% female, 46% male), 473 were in the year-old group (M age 50.3; SD 3.8; 52% female, 48% male), and 264 were in the year-old group (M age 70.1; SD 4.0; 55% female, 45% male). Other demographic characteristics of the sample are given in Table 1. In each of the three age groups, most of the sample was European American, although the ethnic distribution did vary by age group, with more of the youngest age group being from ethnic minority groups, 2 (8, N 1129) 61.08, p.001. This statistic reflects the age by ethnicity distribution in the San Francisco Bay Area and probably a lesser willingness by middle-aged and older ethnic minority adults, compared with younger ethnic minority adults, to participate in this study. The sample had a relatively high level of education. The younger adults were more likely than other groups to have a college degree, the middle-aged adults were more likely than other groups to have a graduate or professional degree, and the older adults were more likely than the other groups to have a high school degree or less, 2 (8, N 1129) p There were also significant differences by age group in median income, with the middle-aged group having the highest income, followed by the youngest group, then the oldest group, 2 (26, N 1114) , p.001. Finally, the older adults were much more likely than the two younger groups to report recent health problems, 2 (2, N 1128) 14.21, p

4 AGE AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS 119 Table 1 Demographic Characteristics by Age Group.01. Because lower educational level, lower income, and more health problems were significantly associated with depressive symptoms in all three groups, 1 and there were significant age-group differences on all of these variables, these variables were used as covariates in all of the analyses of variance and correlational analyses reported in the Results section. 2 Measures Variable Ethnicity (%) European American Asian American African American Latino Other ethnicity Education level (%) High school degree or less Some college College degree Some postgraduate education Graduate or professional degree Median income (in $1,000) $40 $50 $60 $70 $30 $35 % reporting health problems in past year Depressive symptoms. Participants completed the 13-item form of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961) for a self-report measure of current depressive symptoms. Scores can range from 0 to 39, with higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms. The BDI is one of the most widely used self-report instruments for detecting depressive symptoms and has been validated against other self-report scales and clinical diagnoses of depression in a wide range of studies, including studies of community-dwelling, older participants (Stukenberg, Dura, & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1990). The coefficient alpha in this study was.82. Interviewers completed the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD; Hamilton, 1960) on each participant immediately after the interview. This scale provides an index of participants current levels of depressive symptoms. Scores can range from 0 to 50, with higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms. Information on the presence of specific symptoms came from participants responses to the BDI. Interviewers were also instructed to use participants nonverbal behaviors and information provided spontaneously by participants during the interview. Interviewers were extensively trained in the use of the HRSD. Scores on the HRSD have been shown to have good reliability and to correlate well with other clinical measures and self-report measures of depressive symptoms (see Shaw, Vallis, & McCabe, 1985), including studies of community-dwelling, older participants (Stukenberg et al., 1990). In this study, coefficient alpha for the scale was.74. Employment status. Respondents indicated whether they were unemployed, full-time homemakers, retired, or employed at least part time. Work quality. Quality of work experiences was assessed with three scales from Hackman and Oldham (1980). The Job Growth Scale includes four items that ask participants to rate, on a scale from 1 (extremely dissatisfied) to7(extremely satisfied), their satisfaction with opportunities for growth on the job. The coefficient alpha for this scale was.82. The Job Security Scale includes two items that ask participants to rate, on a scale from 1 (extremely dissatisfied) to7(extremely satisfied), their satisfaction with their job security. The coefficient alpha for this scale was.85. The general Job Satisfaction Scale includes five items that ask participants to rate, on a scale from 1 (extremely dissatisfied) to7(extremely satisfied), their general satisfaction with their job. The coefficient alpha for this scale was.77. A fourth scale assessing work quality was taken from Crosby (1982). The Expectations and Aspirations Scale includes seven items that ask participants to rate to what extent aspects of their job (e.g., pay and fringe benefits, challenge, respect and prestige) meet their expectations and aspirations for a job, on a scale from 1 (much better) to5(much worse). The coefficient alpha for this scale was.81. The four scales assessing work quality were submitted to a principalcomponents factor analysis, and one factor emerged that explained 59.5% of the variance in scores on these scales. All four scales loaded at.62 or higher on the factor. This factor was named Work Quality. Higher scores on this factor indicated higher quality experiences in the workplace. A total of 329 of the young adults, 414 of the middle-aged adults, and 56 of the older adults were employed outside the home and completed all the scales that comprised the Work Quality factor (see the Results section for statistical tests of differences between age groups in employment status). Partnership status. All participants were asked whether they were married or cohabiting, in a committed relationship but not cohabiting, divorced, separated, widowed, or never married and not in a committed relationship. Partnership quality. All participants who were currently in any kind of committed relationship completed three scales created by Vanfossen (1981) to assess the quality of partner relationships. The Affirmation Scale includes three items that tap the degree to which respondents feel affirmed by their partners (e.g., My partner is someone who appreciates me just as I am. ). The coefficient alpha for this scale was.76. The Intimacy Scale includes three items that tap the degree to which respondents feel they have an intimate relationship with their partner (e.g., My spouse/partner is someone who is affectionate toward me. ). The coefficient alpha for this scale was.77. The Equity Scale includes three items that tap the degree to which respondents feel their relationships are reasonably equitable (e.g., My spouse/partner usually expects more from me than he/she is willing to give back. [reverse scored]). The coefficient alpha for this scale was.76. Higher scores on all three of these scales indicate higher quality relationships with partners. The three scales assessing partnership quality were submitted to a principal-components factor analysis, and one factor emerged that explained 70.5% of the variance in scores on these scales. All three scales loaded at.60 or higher on the factor. This factor was named Partnership Quality. Higher scores on this factor indicated higher quality relationship with partners. A total of 249 of the young adults, 336 of the middle-aged adults, and 123 of the older adults were partnered and completed all the scales that comprised the Partnership Quality factor (see the Results section for statistical tests of age differences in partnership status). Loneliness. For a measure of relationship quality regardless of partnership status, all respondents completed the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980), which assesses respondents feelings of isolation and loneliness in general. This scale has 20 items of the sort, I lack companionship, Ifeel left out, and I feel isolated from others. Higher scores on this scale indicate greater loneliness. The coefficient alpha for this scale was Analyses of variance showed no significant interactions between age group and either income, educational level, or health problems in the prediction of either self-reported or interviewer-rated depressive symptoms. 2 Ethnicity was not significantly associated with scores on either measure of depressive symptoms, nor did age group significantly interact with ethnicity to predict depressive symptoms. Thus, we did not use ethnicity as a covariate in our analyses.

5 120 NOLEN-HOEKSEMA AND AHRENS Table 2 Continuous Variable Mean Scores by Age Group Variable Recent losses. Respondents were asked whether they had experienced the death of a close friend, a spouse, or another family member in the past year. Answers to these three separate questions were tallied to create a losses score that could range from 0 to 3. Parenting strain. Participants who had children 18 old or younger living in their homes at least part time completed the Parenting Strain Questionnaire (which we developed for this study), which asks respondents to indicate how much strain they experience as a result of 26 aspects of parenting, with responses ranging from 1 (no strain) to10(a lot of strain). This scale was balanced with items that pertain more to caring for young children, such as problems with day care or children being moody or fussy, and items that pertain to caring for older children, such as problems with children using alcohol, marijuana, or drugs or children s sexual behavior. Most of the items were worded so that they could pertain to children at most age levels, such as children having problems with peers at school or not doing well at school, respondents feeling trapped by responsibilities as a parent, or the noise level at home. We averaged respondents scores across the 26 items to create a total parenting strain measure. Higher scores on this scale indicate greater parenting strain. The coefficient alpha was.87. A total of 170 of the young adults, 205 of the middle-aged adults, and 28 of the older adults had children for whom they acted as parents, 2 (2, N 1129) , p.001. All of the older adults who completed the Parenting Strain Questionnaire were caring for grandchildren. Caregiving. Respondents were asked whether they were a caregiver to an ill or older family member. Answers were coded as 0 (no)or1(yes). To provide additional information about caregiving experiences, caregivers were asked how much care they had to provide to the ill or older person, how long that person had been ill, and whether that person lived in the participant s home. Results Age Differences on All Variables Significant age differences BDI a, b c HRSD b a c Work quality a, b c Partnership quality a b Loneliness b a c Losses a, b c Parenting strain a c Note. The far right column indicates significant age differences at p.05 in post hoc pairwise comparisons, covarying income, education, and health problems, with a year-olds, b year-olds, and c year-olds. BDI Beck Depression Inventory; HRSD Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Means on the two depressive symptoms measures are presented in Table 2. Analyses of covariance, using income, educational level, and health problems as covariates, indicated significant age-group differences in both BDI and HRSD scores: BDI, F(2, 1079) 6.50, p.01; HRSD, F(2, 1079) 11.40, p.001. Post hoc comparisons of groups indicated that the older adults had significantly lower scores than the youngest and middle-aged adults on both the BDI and HRSD, and the middle-aged adults had higher scores than the youngest adults on the HRSD. Table 2 also presents mean scores on all the other continuous variables by age group. Analyses of covariance indicated significant age differences in work quality, F (2, 763) 16.09, p.001, partnership quality, F(2, 673) 4.92, p.05, loneliness, F(2, 1089) 11.64, p.001, losses, F(2, 1089) 6.37, p.001, and parenting strain, F(2, 381) 19.81, p.001. The older adults who did work reported significantly greater work quality than the other two age groups. The youngest age group reported greater partnership quality than the middle-aged group. The middle-aged group was significantly lonelier than either of the other two groups, and the youngest age group was also significantly lonelier than the oldest age group. The oldest age group reported significantly more losses than the other two groups. Of those parenting minor children, the oldest group also reported less parenting strain than the youngest group. Table 3 indicates significant differences between age groups in employment status, 2 (6, N 1129) , p.001. The vast majority of the young and middle-aged groups were employed, but only about one quarter of the oldest age group were employed. Instead, about two thirds of the oldest age group were retired. Table 3 indicates significant differences between age groups in partnership status, 2 (10, N 1129) , p.001. The modal partnership status in all three groups was married. Nearly a third of the younger adults were never married, but many fewer of the middle-aged or older adults were never married. More of the middle-aged and older adults than the younger adults were divorced, and many more of the older adults were widowed compared with the other two groups. More adults in the oldest age group were acting as a caregiver to a sick or older family member (8.3%) compared with the middle-aged group (6.4%) or younger group (4.0%), 2 (2, N 1119) 5.42, p.08. Those who were caregiving in the middleaged and younger groups were most likely to be giving care to a parent or parent-in-law, whereas over a quarter of those giving care in the oldest group were giving care to a spouse or partner. There were no significant differences across groups in how much care their ill or older family member required, how long that person had Table 3 Employment and Partnership Status by Age Group Variable Employment status (%) Unemployed Homemakers Retired Employed Partnership status (%) Never married Married Cohabiting Separated Divorced Widowed Committed but not cohabiting

6 AGE AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS 121 Table 4 Correlations Between Depressive Symptoms and Continuous Variables by Age Group Variable Correlations with BDI scores Work quality.27**.35**.19* Partnership quality.26**.18**.38** Loneliness.42**.53**.49** Losses.11* Parenting strain.29**.17*.23 Correlations with HRSD scores Work quality.13*.31**.21* Partnership quality.27**.19**.28* Loneliness.36**.43**.43** Losses.11*.10*.01 Parenting strain.31** Note. The difference between correlations between HRSD depression scores and work quality for the year-olds versus the yearolds was significant at p.05. BDI Beck Depression Inventory; HRSD Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. * p.05. ** p.01. been ill, or whether that person was living in the home of the participant. Age Differences in Correlates of Depressive Symptoms Scores Table 4 presents correlations between each of the continuous measures and BDI depressive symptoms or HRSD depressive symptoms within each age group. The asterisks indicate which correlations reached standard significance levels. Greater work quality and partnership quality and lower loneliness were related to lower depressive symptoms across both measures and all age groups. The simple number of losses was significantly correlated with both depression measures for the young adults and with HRSD scores for the middle-aged adults. Lower parenting strain was related to lower depression, but only consistently for the young adults. Do the age groups differ in the magnitude of the correlations between these variables and depressive symptoms? Significant differences were determined by standardizing each continuous variable score, then creating interaction terms between that standardized score and dummy variables indicating the age groups, then regressing the standardized continuous variable score, the dummy variables indicating age groups, and the interaction terms onto depressive symptoms scores. Because we were comparing age groups, we used income, educational level, and health problems as covariates in all analyses. A significant difference between the correlations between the continuous variable and depressive symptoms was indicated by a significant interaction term ( p.05). Only one pairwise comparison revealed significant differences in these analyses: the correlation between work quality and depressive symptoms was higher for the middle-aged group than for the youngest age group, but only for HRSD scores. Because the magnitude of the difference in correlations between depression and parenting strain between the young and middle-aged adults was so great, and income and educational level might be expected to play a role in this difference, we conducted post hoc analyses comparing the correlations between depression and parenting strain for these two groups, omitting the covariates. The difference in the correlation between HRSD scores and parenting strain between young and middle-aged adults was significant at p.06. The difference in correlation between BDI scores and parenting strain between these two groups did not approach significance. In all other pairwise comparisons, differences between the magnitude of correlations between one age group and another proved to be nonsignificant. To examine the relationships between employment status and depressive symptoms by age group, we performed two separate analyses of covariance, in which either BDI or HRSD depressive symptoms was the dependent variable and age group and employment status were the independent variables. Income, educational level, and health problems were used as covariates. In the analyses of the impact of employment status and age on BDI depressive symptoms (see Table 5), we found only a significant main effect for employment status, F(3, 1044) 3.08, p.05. Post hoc comparisons showed that the unemployed were significantly more depressed than all three other employment groups. Analyses of the impact of employment status and age on HRSD depressive symptoms (see Table 5) also showed a significant main effect for employment status, F(3, 1029) 3.68, p.05, as well as a continuing main effect of age group, F(2, 1029) 3.13, p.05. Post hoc comparisons showed that the unemployed were significantly more depressed than all three other employment groups. In the analyses of the impact of partnership status and age group on BDI depressive symptoms (see Table 6), we found significant main effects for partnership status, F(1, 1070) 3.05, p.01, and a significant interaction between age group and partnership status, F(12, 1070) 1.94, p.05. Post hoc comparisons of age groups within partnership groups were conducted. There were no significant age-group differences among the never married, the married, separated, divorced, and the committed but not cohabiting. Among the cohabiting, middle-aged and older adults were significantly more depressed than younger adults. Among the widowed, the Table 5 Depressive Symptoms by Employment Status and Age Group Employment status Mean BDI scores Unemployed Homemakers Retired Employed Mean HRSD scores Unemployed Homemakers Retired Employed Note. BDI Beck Depression Inventory; HRSD Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.

7 122 NOLEN-HOEKSEMA AND AHRENS Table 6 Depressive Symptom Scores by Partnership Status and Age Group Partnership status middle-aged adults were significantly more depressed than the older adults (there were no widowed persons among the younger adults). Analyses of the impact of partnership status and age group on HRSD depressive symptoms (see Table 5) show a similar pattern, with significant main effects for partnership status, F(1, 1055) 2.01, p.001, and a significant interaction between age group and partnership status, F(12, 1055) 1.96, p.05. Post hoc comparisons of age groups within partnership groups revealed no significant age-group differences among the never married, the married, the separated, the divorced, and the committed but not cohabiting. Among the cohabitating, middle-aged and older adults were significantly more depressed than younger adults. Among the widowed, the middle-aged adults were significantly more depressed than the older adults. In analyses of the effects of caregiver status on both BDI and HRSD depressive symptoms, we found only a significant main effect for caregiver status for the BDI, F(1, 1078) 5.68, p.05, for the HRSD, F(1, 1063) 4.36, p.05 with caregivers having higher depression scores on both measures. Means on BDI for caregivers were 5.20 (SD 4.8), 5.48 (SD 4.4), and 5.41 (SD 3.7), for younger, middle-aged, and older adults, respectively; means on BDI for noncaregivers were 3.88 (SD 4.1), 4.02 (SD 4.3), and 3.70 (SD 3.7) for younger, middle-aged, and older adults, respectively; means on HRSD for caregivers were 4.50 (SD 4.4), 5.55 (SD 3.5) and 5.00 (SD 5.6) for younger, middle-aged and older adults, respectively; means on HRSD for noncaregivers were 3.85 (SD 3.8), 4.31 (SD 4.3) and 3.48 (SD 3.4) for younger, middle-aged, and older adults, respectively. Discussion Mean BDI scores Never married Married Cohabiting Separated Divorced Widowed Committed but not cohabiting Mean HRSD scores Never married Married Cohabiting Separated Divorced Widowed Committed but not cohabiting Note. BDI Beck Depression Inventory; HRSD Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Most of the concerns or life events examined in this study were more common in one age group or another but were equally related to depressive symptoms across age groups. Thus, the frequency of low-quality relationships with a partner, loneliness, parenting strain, and loss varied significantly across age groups. However, these variables were equally likely to be associated with depressive symptoms in the young, middle-aged, and older adults in this study. Similarly, there were significant age-group differences in employment status and being a caregiver, but unemployment and caregiving were equally associated with depressive symptoms in the three age groups. Only two variables showed differential relationships to depressive symptoms across age groups. First, a low-quality work environment was more strongly associated with depressive symptoms among the middle-aged than the younger adults, although on only one of the two depression measures. Second, the relationship between partnership status and depressive symptoms varied across age groups. We discuss both of these results shortly. The overall trend of results from this study, however, suggests that if depressed adults of one age more commonly report problems in a given domain than depressed adults of another age, it is not because these problems are more likely to lead to depression in that age group. Rather, it is more likely to be because a higher percentage of adults in that age group, depressed and nondepressed, have those problems. The Domain of Work The variations in employment status across the age groups were not unexpected: the vast majority of the young and middle-aged adults were employed, whereas two thirds of the older adults were retired. Employment status was similarly related to depressive symptoms across the three age groups, however, with the unemployed being significantly more depressed than the employed, homemakers, or retired people. The quality of the work environment did show different relationships to depressive symptoms across age. A low-quality work environment and lack of satisfaction with one s job was more strongly related to depressive symptoms among the middle-aged adults than the young adults, at least on one depression measure. (Note that relatively few of the older adults were employed, so the statistical power to detect differences between this group and the other two age groups may have been low.) These results are in line with those of other studies suggesting that job-related factors are more strongly associated with well-being in middle-aged than in younger adults (Warr, 1999). Middle-aged adults who are in dissatisfying jobs may feel they cannot pursue more satisfying jobs because of their financial obligations to their families or because they are too old to obtain the education or take the risks needed to pursue a new career. Thus, they remain in these jobs, still facing decades of going daily into a workplace that they find unpleasant and ungratifying. Not having achieved their career goals may challenge their sense of identity and productivity, further impairing their well-being (Vandewater & Stewart, 1998). Thus, this result from our study is in line with life span developmental theories that suggest that satisfaction with one s job may be more important to one s well-being in middle age than at younger ages. The Domain of Social Relationships In their relationships with spouses or partners, young adults reported significantly greater affirmation, intimacy, and equity

8 AGE AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS 123 than did the middle-aged and older adults. This finding is in line with previous research showing that marital satisfaction is highest in the early of marriage and declines with the number of married (McAdams & Bryant, 1987). However, middle-aged adults reported more loneliness than did younger or older adults. The loneliness measure taps a general sense of social embedment, within and beyond one s primary relationships (Russell et al., 1980). Thus, although nearly two thirds of the middle-aged adults were in some sort of committed relationship with another adult, they were more likely than the other age groups to have a sense of isolation and alienation. It is interesting that the older adults reported the lowest loneliness scores, even though they were the most likely group to be widowed or otherwise without a close partner. Many of the older adults who were not partnered may have made special efforts to assuage feelings of loneliness by reaching out to old friends. Carstensen (1998) has argued that older adults narrow their network of social relationships to focus on only the most positive and important ones, and by doing so, maintain a positive well-being and sense of connectedness. Despite these age differences in the quality of experiences within adult relationships, there were no significant age differences in the correlations between these experiences and depressive symptoms. For all three age groups, having lower quality relationships with one s spouse or partner, or feeling lonely, was associated with elevated depressive symptoms. This finding suggests that concerns over close relationships are related to depressive symptoms at any point in the adult age span. Partnership status was differentially related to depressive symptoms across the age groups, however. Moreover, the pattern of differences fits well with normative life events perspectives on well-being. Being in a cohabiting (but not married) relationship was associated with considerably higher depression scores for middle-aged and older adults than for younger adults. Cohabiting is much less normative for middle-aged and older adults than for younger adults, and this nonnormativeness may help to explain its association with depressive symptoms for the older adults. Widowhood and other recent losses. Widowhood was associated with significantly higher depression on both measures for middle-aged than older adults (there were no widows among the younger adults), replicating the findings of several previous studies (Glick et al., 1974; Lichtenstein et al., 1996; Lopata, 1973). Similarly, although losses of close friends, family members, or spouses to death were more common among older adults than the two younger groups, the simple number of losses experienced in the previous year was significantly associated with depressive symptoms in only the youngest age group. Again, these results fit with normative life events perspectives suggesting that nonnormative losses such as the loss of a spouse or close friend in young adulthood are more distressing than normative, or expected losses such as the loss of a spouse or close friend in older age (Glick et al., 1974; Neugarten, 1979). Parenting. Young and middle-aged adults reported more parenting strain than older adults, only a few of whom were caring for young children (who were their grandchildren). Those older adults who were caring for small children may have brought maturity to bear on dealing with these strains, reducing their perception of strain. When we controlled for income and educational level, there were no significant age differences between the correlations between depression and parenting strain. However, when these covariates were not in the regression equations, younger adults showed a stronger relationship between parenting strain and depressive symptoms on one measure than did the middle-aged adults. This result suggests that the higher income and educational level of the middle-aged adults may have accounted for the lesser impact of parenting strain on depressive symptoms in this group. Caregiving. In line with previous studies (Stephens & Franks, 1999b), we found that caregivers to ill or frail family members had higher levels of depressive symptoms than did noncaregivers. Older adults were more likely to be serving as caregivers than were younger or middle-aged adults (see also Zarit & Eggebeen, 1995). The relationship between caregiving and depressive symptoms did not vary with age, however. Limitations There are a number of limitations to this study. First, because this is a cross-sectional correlational study, we cannot determine the direction of causality in the relationships observed. Second, these results may not generalize to differences between people diagnosed with depressive disorders in various age groups. In addition, the relatively high levels of education and income in this sample may limit the generalizability of our results. Third, we cannot know whether the age differences observed are due to age or historical cohort effects. Some readers may be surprised that the oldest adults had the lowest depression scores of any age group on both the BDI and HRSD. Previous studies on age differences in depression have frequently shown the young old to be less depressed than middle-aged and younger adults (Blazer, 1994; Blazer, Kessler, McGonagle, & Swartz, 1994; Gatz & Hurwicz, 1990). The old old tend to have quite high levels of depression, however. Our oldest age group fits more into the young old category, and thus our results parallel the results of several studies. Our sampling did not include older adults (or other age groups) living in institutions, who also tend to have quite high levels of depression (Blazer, 1994; Newmann, 1989). Indeed, across all age groups, those who were less distressed may have been more likely to participate in the study. There are a large number of additional variables not measured in this study that could show stronger associations with depressive symptoms than the life events or concerns assessed in this study, such as personality or coping variables. In addition, we probably omitted some events of particular concern to older adults. For example, we did not do a thorough assessment of physical health and disability. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that if depressed people of different ages report different concerns, this is more likely due to differences across age in the prevalence of these concerns than to differences across age in the impact of these concerns on psychological well-being. The prevalence of an event for one s age group will affect its salience. For many life events or concerns, however, once they occur they appear similarly likely to be related to depressive symptoms among younger, middle-aged, and older adults.