Flourishing in later life

Psychosocial correlates of flourishing in the late lifespan

BACKGROUND

Flourishing is a primary dimension of psychological well-being that contributes massively to the development of an active, purposeful, and respectful life, full of meaning, values, and personal interests that nurture social ties.

AIMS

This study primarily intended to examine the contribution of satisfaction with family relations, resilience, metacognitive efficiency, and crystallized intelligence in predicting a flourishing measure in cognitively healthy older adults. Moreover, the impact of gender was investigated on flourishing, satisfaction with family ties, resilience, and metacognitive efficiency.

METHODS

One hundred and eighty 65-94-year-old community dwellers were recruited in Sardinia (Italy). Participants self-rated their flourishing, satisfaction with their family connections, psychological hardness (i.e., a dimension of resilience), and cognitive function, whereas global cognitive efficiency and vocabulary were assessed through two internationally validated objective tests.

RESULTS

A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that 30% of the variance in the flourishing condition was explained by satisfaction with family ties, resilience, and metacognitive efficiency. In addition, males exhibited higher flourishing and satisfaction with family ties than females, and the former group also reported being more autonomous and acting proactively to influence its destiny.

CONCLUSION

Emotional support and rewarding relations with family members, the ability to face stressful events, and a good perception of one's cognitive efficiency play a crucial role in promoting flourishing in late adulthood.

Strength Use and Well-Being at Work among Teachers: The Mediating Role of Basic Need Satisfaction

Teachers' well-being at work is an important indicator of their mental health. Strengths use has been identified as a significant predictor of enhanced well-being at work. However, there is a scarcity of studies that have examined the connection between teachers' strengths use and well-being at work; thus, its underlying psychological mechanism is unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the association between teachers' strengths and well-being at work together with the mediating role of basic need satisfaction. A total of 374 university teachers completed a series of questionnaires on strengths use, basic need satisfaction, hedonic well-being, and eudaimonic well-being. The results showed that there were positive correlations between strength use and both types of well-being at work. Moreover, basic need satisfaction mediated the association between strength use and two types of well-being at work. The findings suggest that institutions should prioritize enhancing teachers' ability to utilize their strengths and foster an environment conducive to such practices, thereby improving their workplace well-being.

Life-Satisfaction, Engagement, Mindfulness, Flourishing, and Social Support: Do they Predict Depression, Suicide Ideation, and History of Suicide Attempt in Late Life?

OBJECTIVE

Suicide is an outcome arising from a combination of risk and protective factors. Examining psychological resilience traits associated with successful aging may help to better understand late-life suicide and depression. We examined self-reported protective factors including mindfulness, life satisfaction and engagement, flourishing, and subjective and objective social support in a high suicide-risk sample of depressed older adults.

METHODS

Participants were 297 individuals aged 55+ (mean age: 64.2): 92 depressed suicide attempters, 138 depressed individuals who never attempted suicide, and 67 non-psychiatric comparisons. Using linear and binomial logistic regression, we examined the effects of a combined Protective Factor value on presence and severity of depression and suicidal ideation, and history of suicide attempt.

RESULTS

Relative to the non-psychiatric comparison group, all depressed participants had significantly lower Protective Factor values. Higher Protective Factor value was associated with lower likelihood of depression, depression severity, and likelihood of ideation, but was not associated with ideation severity or history of suicide attempt. Participants with one standard deviation higher Protective Factor had lower odds of ideation incidence by a factor of OR=0.68 (95%CI=0.48-0.96).

CONCLUSION

Resiliency characteristics relevant to psychological wellbeing and successful aging may mitigate the emergence of depression and suicidal ideation, as well as the severity of depression in late-life. The Resilience Factor used in this study can help clinicians nuance their appraisal of depression and suicide risk.

The Moderating Roles of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Religiosity on the Relationship between Social Networks and Flourishing: A Study on Community-Dwelling Widowed Older Adults in Malaysia

Widowhood affects the social networks and well-being of older adults. Religion might moderate the relationship between a stressor and well-being. This study aimed to identify the moderating roles of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity on the relationship between social networks and flourishing among widowed older people and whether this relationship varied across gender. This study involved 655 community-dwelling widowed older Malaysians from Wave 1 (2012-2013) of "Identifying Psychosocial Risks and Quantifying the Economic Costs of Age-Related Cognitive Decline among Older Malaysians" in Peninsula Malaysia. The moderated hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the moderating roles of religiosity. Results showed that the moderating effect of religiosity on the relationship between social networks and flourishing was only observed for extrinsic religiosity, not intrinsic religiosity. In terms of gender differences, extrinsic religiosity moderated the relationship between social networks, flourishing only among widows but not widowers. Widows with low levels of extrinsic religiosity should join activities or programs that could expand their social networks to promote higher well-being despite widowhood.

Sociodemographic predictors of flourishing among older adults in rural and urban Mongolia

Flourishing is an eudaimonic dimension of psychological well-being associated with positive social and health outcomes. Determining correlates of health and well-being is critical for the development of evidence-based best practices, policies, and action plans that target older adults, especially in low- and middle-income countries where research on ageing, health and well-being is still scarce. The study aimed to determine the level of flourishing among older adults in Mongolia and to explore demographic and social factors that contribute to their flourishing in urban and rural areas of Mongolia. We used proportional quota sampling to select a non-probability sample of 304 community-dwelling older adults that reflected the national distribution of older age groups and rural/urban residency. We adapted and administered a widely used standardized questionnaire on flourishing and used multiple regression to establish correlates of flourishing. Study participants reported "very high" levels of flourishing; differences in median scores 53 for urban and 50 for rural older adults were significant. Sex ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]), level of education([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) and receive help with ADLs ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) were associated with flourishing in rural areas, as were self-rated health ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]), number of social activities ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]),and friends network ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) in urban areas. Despite facing many challenges to well-being, older adults in Mongolia reported high levels of flourishing. Those in urban areas had higher scores than those in rural areas and predictors of flourishing differed for these groups.

Mediation effect of coping strategies on general psychological health among middle-aged and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we aim to assess general psychological health, associated factors, and the potential of coping strategies as a mediator for middle-aged and older Malaysian adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

A total of 535 individuals aged 52 years and above from the previous cohort and interventional studies in Peninsular Malaysia were contacted during the Movement Control Order (MCO) issued during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telephonic interviews were conducted to obtain participant information concerning socio-demography, physical activity, subjective well-being (SWB) as assessed using flourishing scale, coping strategies, and general psychological health (GHQ-12). Simple linear regression (SLR) and multiple linear regression (MLR) analyses were performed to identify the factors associated with GHQ-12. The associated factors were further analysed using mediation analysis to determine the potential of coping strategies as a mediator.

RESULTS

It was observed that participants had a low mean GHQ-12 score (M = 0.80, SD = 2.19), indicating good psychological health. Living arrangement, physical activity, and flourishing scale were associated with psychological health (R² = 0.412, p < 0.05) in MLR. Positive reinterpretation, emotional support, instrumental support, humour, denial, and self-blame appear to partially mediate the relationship between socio-demography, physical activity, flourishing scale and GHQ-12, with lower coefficient values.

CONCLUSION

Middle-aged and older adults in Malaysia had good psychological health during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when living with family, physically active, and having good subjective well-being. These findings provide the initial evidence to help promote the ageing population's general well-being and mental health and enable them to cope with change during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Older People's Lived Perspectives of Social Isolation during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

The aim of the present study is to understand the experiences of isolation and strategies used to cope with it among older people living at home during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, the roles of media and online technologies were also explored. Semistructured interviews were conducted via telephone between March and April 2020 with 30 people aged 72–94 years old living in Northern Italy. The thematic analysis identified six thematic areas: changes in daily life, emotions, social networks, exploited resources and strategies, use of media, and view of the future. Older people faced the emergency in heterogeneous ways; some were able to take advantage of their own residual resources and of social support, whereas in other cases, isolation exacerbated existing weaknesses. Technology and media were useful for reducing loneliness and fostering social contacts, but people with age-related impairments or low digital literacy presented many difficulties in approaching new technologies. Moreover, the overabundance of information could also increase anxiety and feelings of threat. Given the impact of social isolation on older people’s well-being, it is critical to identify and strengthen personal resources and social support strategies that may help older people cope with the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Do Living Arrangements and Social Network Influence the Mental Health Status of Older Adults in Malaysia?

Living arrangement has been reported to have a significant influence on several mental health statuses of older adults, but their social network may confound this association. This study is aimed at examining the interactive effect of living arrangements and social network on the mental health status among older adults in Malaysia. A total of 2,188 Malaysian older adults living nationwide were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants were classified into four groups according to their living arrangements (living alone or not living alone) and social network size (assessed using Lubben's Social Network Scale-6). Poor social network was defined as the lowest quartile (fourth quartile) of the score. Mental health statuses, which include flourishing in life, life satisfaction, cognitive functions, loneliness, depression, and perceived stress, were measured. Multiple linear regression models, adjusted for age, gender, education, and comorbidities, revealed that a good social network was significantly associated with an increase on the flourishing scale scores, regardless of living arrangements. Not living alone and having good social network was significantly associated with increased Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores and decreased loneliness scores. This study found that living arrangements are not always a risk factor for the mental health status of older adults. However, it may be confounded by the level of their social networks. The results suggested that the effects of social network may exceed the impact of living arrangements. It is recommended that health professionals pay more attention to the social networks of older Malaysians to harness its benefits in improving their mental health status.

Childhood Obesity Is Associated with Poor Academic Skills and Coping Mechanisms

OBJECTIVE

To assess the relationship between obesity and select childhood flourishing markers including academic skills and coping strategies.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study utilizing parental reported data for children aged 10-17 years (n = 22 914) from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health. Multiple binary regressions assessed the association between body mass index-for-age and 5 school-related and behavioral childhood flourishing markers independently and combined, including completing homework, showing interest in learning, finishing tasks, staying calm when challenged, and caring about academics. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, depression, sleep, digital media exposure, poverty, and parental education level.

RESULTS

Only 28.9% of children with obesity were reported to have all 5 markers, compared with 38% with overweight, and 40.5% with normal body mass index. In an adjusted model, children with obesity had significantly decreased odds of demonstrating 4 of 5 markers: showing interest in learning (aOR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.62-0.97), finishing tasks (aOR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.63-0.94), staying calm when challenged (aOR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.59-0.90), and caring about academics (aOR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.55-0.86). Completing homework was not associated with obesity. Youth with obesity also had 23% decreased odds (aOR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.61-0.98) of meeting the combined measure for flourishing markers.

CONCLUSIONS

Childhood obesity is associated with poor academic skills and coping strategies which may lead to worse individual and public health outcomes. Further studies are needed to create validated flourishing measures and identify interventions that promote healthy youth behavior and academic success.

Mental health rescue effects of women's outdoor tourism: A role in COVID-19 recovery

Mental and social health outcomes from a portfolio of women's outdoor tourism products, with ~100,000 clients, are analysed using a catalysed netnography of >1000 social media posts. Entirely novel outcomes include: psychological rescue; recognition of a previously missing life component, and flow-on effects to family members. Outcomes reported previously for extreme sports, but not previously for hiking in nature, include psychological transformation. Outcomes also identified previously include: happiness, gratitude, relaxation, clarity and insights, nature appreciation, challenge and capability, and companionship and community effects. Commercial outdoor tourism enterprises can contribute powerfully to the wellbeing of women and families. This will be especially valuable for mental health recovery, following deterioration during COVID-19 coronavirus lockdowns worldwide.

Validity and Reliability of the Flourishing Scale in a Sample of Older Adults in Iran

Background

Flourishing is related to positive outcomes for physical and mental health, as well as overall wellbeing. The aim of the present study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Flourishing Scale (FS) among a sample of older participants in Iran.

Methods

In this validation study, 300 older people were selected by cluster sampling method. Data were collected using a checklist for demographic characteristics, the FS, and the Oxford happiness questionnaire. The validity (face, content, convergent, and construct) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha, test-retest) of the FS was evaluated in this cross-sectional study.

Results

The exploratory factor analysis demonstrated a one-dimensional structure consisting of 8 items with an eigenvalue of 3.583. The model had a good fit [χ² = 52.983, p < 0.001, χ²/df = 2.944, GFI = 0.958, CFI = 0.915, IFI = 0.949, TLI = 0.919, AGFI = 0.948, and RMSEA = 0.081, SRMR = 0.086] with all factor loadings greater than 0.5 and statistically significant. A test of concurrent validity showed a direct and significant association between the FS and the Oxford happiness questionnaire (r = 0.647, p < 0.001). The results of the reliability tests confirmed that the values of Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.819) and test-retest (0.821) were acceptable.

Conclusion

The Persian version of the FS demonstrated suitable validity and reliability among a sample of older participants.

The Association Between Diabetes and Cognitive Function in Later Life

Introduction:

Although diabetes through several possible mechanisms such as increased microvascular pathology and inefficiency of glucose utilization during cognitive tasks can be associated with cognitive impairment, there is inconclusive evidence that shows elderly diabetic patients under therapy have higher cognitive function compared to their non-diabetics counterparts. The present study was conducted to elucidate the association between diabetes and cognitive function in later life.

Methods:

Data for this study, consisting of 2202 older adults aged 60 years and above, were taken from a population-based survey entitled “Identifying Psychosocial and Identifying Economic Risk Factor of Cognitive Impairment among Elderly. Data analysis was conducted using the IBM SPSS Version 23.0.

Results:

The mean of MMSE was found to be 22.67 (SD = 4.93). The overall prevalence of self-reported diabetes was found to be 23.6% (CI95%: 21.8% - 25.4%). The result of independent t-test showed diabetic subjects had a higher mean score of MMSE (M = 23.05, SD =4 .55) than their counterparts without diabetes (M = 22.55, SD = 5.04) (t = -2.13 p<.05). The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that diabetes was not significantly associated with cognitive function, after controlling the possible confounding factors.

Conclusions:

The findings from the current study revealed that diabetes is not associated with cognitive decline. This study supports the findings that long-term treatment of diabetes may reduce the risk of cognitive decline. This finding may provide new opportunities for the prevention and management of cognitive decline.

A Short-Term Longitudinal Investigation of Hookups and Holistic Outcomes Among College Students

Majority of college students hook up at least once during their time in school. The literature on casual sex encounters among college students is growing, though most studies are cross-sectional and individual studies focus on few outcomes at a time, leaving piecemeal and mixed results. The current longitudinal study clarifies prior work by analyzing how post-event process (PEP), an understudied construct within the hookup literature, and emotional (i.e., positive or negative) hookup reactions interact to predict a breadth of outcomes, representing holistic student well-being. The inclusion of PEP reframes the current literature to consider PEP as a predictor variable of hookup outcomes, as moderated by emotional hookup reactions. This is consistent with literature indicating emotional experiences affect PEP across a variety of incidents. Participants (N = 377, 87.6% female) completed self-report measures at 2-month intervals. We tested relationships between the main and interaction effects of PEP and emotional hookup reactions as a moderation regression analyses on anxiety, academic engagement, religious coping, and psychological flourishing. The main effect of PEP predicted more anxiety and less negative religious coping, negative hookup reactions predicted more anxiety, and positive hookup reactions predicted more flourishing. Regarding interaction effects, high levels of positive hookup reactions and PEP were associated with less anxiety, less academic engagement, more negative religious coping, and less psychological flourishing; high levels of negative hookup reactions and PEP were associated with less anxiety and more negative religious coping and were unrelated to academic engagement or flourishing over two months.

Psychometric evaluation of the Russian version of the flourishing scale in a sample of older adults living in Siberia

Background

The development of measures of psychological functioning has received less attention in Russia compared to other countries. Moreover, despite the growing interest in the psychological well-being of older adults, there is a lack of research on this segment of the population in Siberia. Therefore, in this study we aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Russian version of the Flourishing Scale (FS) and to measure psychological functioning in a sample of older adults living in Siberia.

Methods

The FS was translated and adapted to Russian language and culture using the back-translation procedure. The Russian version was administered to 851 older adults (aged from 65 to 93 years, mean = 75.3; female = 510). A principal axis factor analysis (PFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to assess the structural validity. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (internal consistency) and item-total correlations were also analysed. To test the convergent validity, the FS was compared with other scales assessing mental well-being.

Results

The PFA and the CFA showed that the FS had good psychometric properties. A one-factor structure was a good model of fit, even if some items had a low loading (ranging between 0.39 and 0.80). The Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.82 and the Cronbach’s alpha values if an item were deleted ranged from 0.78 to 0.81. The item-total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.54 to 0.76. The FS also showed good convergent and divergent validity with other scales (correlation coefficients ranging from 0.39 to 0.54). The mean flourishing score (40.9) reported by the older adults in our sample is lower than that reported in previous studies.

Conclusions

The Russian version of the FS seems to have good psychometric properties and to be a valid and reliable instrument to evaluate flourishing among Russian older adults. This study provides the first evaluation of an instrument that Russian researchers and policymakers can use to better understand the determinants of successful ageing in this society. Future studies should further assess the validity and reliability of the FS and should generalize these results to different groups (e.g., adolescent or workers).

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12955-019-1100-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Grandparents - Grandchildren Relationship in Iran, 2017

Introduction:

With the continuing growth of aged populations, it is imperative to find ways to maintain and improve the quality of life in old age. It has been documented that grandparents-grandchildren relationship is significantly contributed to quality of life of older adults. This study was conducted to identify the status and associated factors of grandparents-grandchildren relationship in a sample of Iran.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 377 community dwelling older adults 60 years and over living in Kashan, Iran. A multistage proportional random sampling technique was applied to obtain the sample. The grandparent -grandchildren relationship was measured by a researcher-developed 16-item scale. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 and AMOS 23.

Results:

The mean age of the respondents was 70.42(SD = 8.20) years. About 62% of the respondents were female and 60.7% were married. The average score of grandparents-grandchild relationship was 67.60(SD = 12.47). The multiple linear regression analysis revealed a significant model (F _{(11, 365)} = 19.05, P < 0.001), where information communication technology of grandparents, geographical distance between grandparents and grandchildren, and the quality of relationship between grandparents and parents of grandchildren were the most important predictors of the grandparents-grandchildren relationship.

Conclusion:

The findings from the current study showed that status of grandparents-grandchildren relationship is moderate to high and influenced by some factors. It is, therefore, suggested that policymakers pay more attention to strengthening grandparent-grandchild relationship by providing educational programs for families and encouraging the elderly to learn and use information communication technology.

Prevalence of hypotension and its association with cognitive function among older adults

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The negative effect of hypertension has overshadowed possible health problems associated with hypotension. The purposes of this study were to describe the prevalence of hypotension in older adults and to determine the association between hypotension and cognitive function, after adjusting for possible covariates.

METHODOLOGY

The data for the study consisting of 1067 community-dwelling older adults were obtained from a national survey entitled "Identifying Psychosocial and Identifying Economic Risk Factor of Cognitive Impairment among Elderly", conducted in Malaysia. The hypotension was considered as blood pressure <120/75 mm Hg, measuring by standard mercury manometer. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS Version 22.0.

RESULTS

The mean age of the respondents was 68.27 (SD = 5.93). Mean score of cognitive function as measured by MMSE was 22.70 (SD = 4.95). The prevalence of hypotension was 29.3%. The prevalence of cognitive impairment for hypotension group was 25.6%. Results of multiple linear regression analysis revealed that hypotension is negatively associated with cognitive function (Beta = -0.11, p<.01), after adjusting for age, gender, education, marital status, employment status, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and gastritis.

CONCLUSION

The study showing hypotension is significantly associated with decreased cognitive function in later life, implies more attention to low blood pressure in old age.

Moderating effect of intrinsic religiosity on the relationship between depression and cognitive function among community-dwelling older adults

OBJECTIVES

Research has found that depression in later life is associated with cognitive impairment. Thus, the mechanism to reduce the effect of depression on cognitive function is warranted. In this paper, we intend to examine whether intrinsic religiosity mediates the association between depression and cognitive function.

METHOD

The study included 2322 nationally representative community-dwelling elderly in Malaysia, randomly selected through a multi-stage proportional cluster random sampling from Peninsular Malaysia. The elderly were surveyed on socio-demographic information, cognitive function, depression and intrinsic religiosity. A four-step moderated hierarchical regression analysis was employed to test the moderating effect. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (version 15.0).

RESULTS

Bivariate analyses showed that both depression and intrinsic religiosity had significant relationships with cognitive function. In addition, four-step moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the intrinsic religiosity moderated the association between depression and cognitive function, after controlling for selected socio-demographic characteristics.

CONCLUSION

Intrinsic religiosity might reduce the negative effect of depression on cognitive function. Professionals who are working with depressed older adults should seek ways to improve their intrinsic religiosity as one of the strategies to prevent cognitive impairment.

Predicting cognitive function of the Malaysian elderly: a structural equation modelling approach

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to identify the predictors of elderly's cognitive function based on biopsychosocial and cognitive reserve perspectives.

METHOD

The study included 2322 community-dwelling elderly in Malaysia, randomly selected through a multi-stage proportional cluster random sampling from Peninsular Malaysia. The elderly were surveyed on socio-demographic information, biomarkers, psychosocial status, disability, and cognitive function. A biopsychosocial model of cognitive function was developed to test variables' predictive power on cognitive function. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (version 15.0) in conjunction with Analysis of Moment Structures Graphics (AMOS 7.0).

RESULTS

The estimated theoretical model fitted the data well. Psychosocial stress and metabolic syndrome (MetS) negatively predicted cognitive function and psychosocial stress appeared as a main predictor. Socio-demographic characteristics, except gender, also had significant effects on cognitive function. However, disability failed to predict cognitive function.

CONCLUSION

Several factors together may predict cognitive function in the Malaysian elderly population, and the variance accounted for it is large enough to be considered substantial. Key factor associated with the elderly's cognitive function seems to be psychosocial well-being. Thus, psychosocial well-being should be included in the elderly assessment, apart from medical conditions, both in clinical and community setting.

Promoting Human Flourishing in Aging

Human flourishing represents a state of mental health in which an individual is actively striving to live well rather than merely feeling good. This concept provides an important context for nurses working with older adults. Flourishing older adults exhibit a sense of personal growth in that they are still evolving and changing. Research suggests that human flourishing is associated with positive outcomes for mental and physical health. Thus, it is important for nurses and other health professionals to help older adults identify and implement strategies that promote flourishing in their later years. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 55(10), 27-30.].

Gender differences in depression in representative national samples: Meta-analyses of diagnoses and symptoms

In 2 meta-analyses on gender differences in depression in nationally representative samples, we advance previous work by including studies of depression diagnoses and symptoms to (a) estimate the magnitude of the gender difference in depression across a wide array of nations and ages; (b) use a developmental perspective to elucidate patterns of gender differences across the life span; and (c) incorporate additional theory-driven moderators (e.g., gender equity). For major depression diagnoses and depression symptoms, respectively, we meta-analyzed data from 65 and 95 articles and their corresponding national data sets, representing data from 1,716,195 and 1,922,064 people in over 90 different nations. Overall, odds ratio (OR) = 1.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.88, 2.03], and d = 0.27 [0.26, 0.29]. Age was the strongest predictor of effect size. The gender difference for diagnoses emerged earlier than previously thought, with OR = 2.37 at age 12. For both meta-analyses, the gender difference peaked in adolescence (OR = 3.02 for ages 13-15, and d = 0.47 for age 16) but then declined and remained stable in adulthood. Cross-national analyses indicated that larger gender differences were found in nations with greater gender equity, for major depression, but not depression symptoms. The gender difference in depression represents a health disparity, especially in adolescence, yet the magnitude of the difference indicates that depression in men should not be overlooked. (PsycINFO Database Record

Gender differences in depression in representative national samples: Meta-analyses of diagnoses and symptoms

In 2 meta-analyses on gender differences in depression in nationally representative samples, we advance previous work by including studies of depression diagnoses and symptoms to (a) estimate the magnitude of the gender difference in depression across a wide array of nations and ages; (b) use a developmental perspective to elucidate patterns of gender differences across the life span; and (c) incorporate additional theory-driven moderators (e.g., gender equity). For major depression diagnoses and depression symptoms, respectively, we meta-analyzed data from 65 and 95 articles and their corresponding national data sets, representing data from 1,716,195 and 1,922,064 people in over 90 different nations. Overall, odds ratio (OR) = 1.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.88, 2.03], and d = 0.27 [0.26, 0.29]. Age was the strongest predictor of effect size. The gender difference for diagnoses emerged earlier than previously thought, with OR = 2.37 at age 12. For both meta-analyses, the gender difference peaked in adolescence (OR = 3.02 for ages 13-15, and d = 0.47 for age 16) but then declined and remained stable in adulthood. Cross-national analyses indicated that larger gender differences were found in nations with greater gender equity, for major depression, but not depression symptoms. The gender difference in depression represents a health disparity, especially in adolescence, yet the magnitude of the difference indicates that depression in men should not be overlooked. (PsycINFO Database Record