April 28, 2008
Study shows risk of first depression late in life
michael_wentzel@urmc.rochester.edu
Even after the age of 70, people prone to feelings of
anxiety, worry, distress, and insecurity face a risk for a first lifetime
episode of clinically significant depression, according to a study led by a
Medical Center researcher.
“We assume that because depression has not
developed for people with these personality traits by the age of 70 that it
won’t develop,” said Paul Duberstein, professor of psychiatry
who led the study. “But even in older adulthood, these traits confer
risk. Presumably something about aging helps take down the façade or
destroys the protective sheath that has kept them from significant
depression.”
The findings from the study, the first of its kind,
are published in the May issue of the journal Psychological Medicine.
Having a working-class background also may place older
adults at heightened risk for depression, particularly prior to the age of
80, the study found. Consistent with previous research, women were found to
be at greater risk than men. The study enhances the understanding of
late-life depression and could aid in the identification and treatment of
people at risk.
“The findings suggest that long-standing
personality traits can predict onset of depression into older
adulthood,” said Duberstein, who is director of the Laboratory of
Personality and Development at the Medical Center.
The researchers utilized data from a multidisciplinary
study of 70-year-old residents of Göteborg, Sweden, that began in 1971
to gain a greater understanding of aging and age-related disorders.
Because most people in Sweden receive their health
care through a public health system, the study had access to decades of
medical records. Data collection also involved physical and mental health
examinations and a social assessment. After the initial test, participants
were examined over a 15-year period at the ages of 75, 79, 81, 83 and 85.
For the current study, researchers eliminated people
at age 70 with dementia and other psychiatric disorders. In all, the
records of 275 people were analyzed. There were 59 cases of first lifetime
episodes of depression after the age of 70.
“Although we are aware of no research on how
people who are highly distress prone manage to stave off clinically
significant depression, protective factors might play a role,”
the study authors state. “Candidate protective factors include
close personal relationships, rewarding occupations or meaningful
hobbies, physical vigor and vitality, economic independence, and spiritual
well-being.”
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