Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T13:54:37.590Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The characteristics of anxiety and depression symptom severity in older adults living in public housing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2011

Adam Simning ,
Yeates Conwell ,
Susan G. Fisher ,
Thomas M. Richardson  and
Edwin van Wijngaarden
Adam Simning*
Affiliation:
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Rochester, New York, USA
Yeates Conwell
Affiliation:
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Psychiatry, Rochester, New York, USA
Susan G. Fisher
Affiliation:
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Rochester, New York, USA
Thomas M. Richardson
Affiliation:
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Psychiatry, Rochester, New York, USA
Edwin van Wijngaarden
Affiliation:
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Rochester, New York, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Adam Simning, Ph.D., Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 265 Crittenden Boulevard, CU 420644, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. Phone: +1 (585) 273–1964. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Anxiety and depression are common in older adult public housing residents and frequently co-occur. To understand anxiety and depression more fully in this socioeconomically disadvantaged population, this study relies on the Social Antecedent Model of Psychopathology to characterize anxiety and depression symptoms concurrently.

Methods: 190 public housing residents aged 60 years and older in Rochester, New York, participated in a research interview during which they reported on variables across the six stages of the Social Antecedent Model. GAD-7 and PHQ-9 assessed anxiety and depression symptoms, respectively.

Results: In these older adult residents, anxiety and depression symptom severity scores were correlated (r = 0.61; p < 0.001). Correlates of anxiety and depression symptom severity were similar for both outcomes and spanned the six stages of the Social Antecedent Model. Multivariate linear regression models identified age, medical comorbidity, mobility, social support, maladaptive coping, and recent life events severity as statistically significant correlates. The regression models accounted for 43% of anxiety and 48% of depression symptom variability.

Conclusions: In public housing residents, late-life anxiety and depression symptoms were moderately correlated. Anxiety symptom severity correlates were largely consistent with those found for depression symptom severity. The broad distribution of correlates across demographic, social, medical, and behavioral domains suggests that the context of late-life anxiety and depression symptomatology in public housing is complex and that multidisciplinary collaborative care approaches may be warranted in future interventions.

Keywords

African Americanurban healthcorrelatessocial factors
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , April 2012 , pp. 614 - 623
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beuke, C. J., Fischer, R. and McDowall, J. (2003). Anxiety and depression: why and how to measure their separate effects. Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 831–848.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Black, B. S., Rabins, P. V., German, P., McGuire, M. and Roca, R. (1997). Need and unmet need for mental health care among elderly public housing residents. Gerontologist, 37, 717–728.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borson, S., Scanlan, J., Brush, M., Vitaliano, P. and Dokmak, A. (2000). The Mini-Cog: a cognitive ‘vital signs’ measure for dementia screening in multi-lingual elderly. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 1021–1027.3.0.CO;2-6>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burke, P. (1998). A Picture of Subsidized Households in 1998: United States Summaries. Washington, DC: US Department of Housing & Urban Development.Google Scholar
Carver, C. S. (1997). You want to measure coping but your protocol's too long: consider the Brief COPE. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4, 92–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cattan, M., White, M., Bond, J. and Learmouth, A. (2005). Preventing social isolation and loneliness among older people: a systematic review of health promotion interventions. Ageing and Society, 25, 41–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2000). Minimum Data Set, Version 2.0. Baltimore, MD: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, US Department of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
Cohen, C. I., Magai, C., Yaffee, R. and Walcott-Brown, L. (2006). The prevalence of anxiety and associated factors in a multiracial sample of older adults. Psychiatric Services, 57, 1719–1725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, C. I., Colemon, Y., Yaffee, R. and Casimir, G. J. (2008). Racial differences in suicidality in an older urban population. Gerontologist, 48, 71–78.Google Scholar
Fetzer Institute N. I. A. Working Group Report. (1999). Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality for Use in Health Research. Kalamazoo, MI: Fetzer Institute.Google Scholar
George, L. K. (1989). Social and economic factors. In Busse, E. W. and Blazer, D. G. (eds.), Geriatric Psychiatry (pp. 203–234). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press, Inc.Google Scholar
Kraemer, H. C. (2007). DSM categories and dimensions in clinical and research contexts. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 16 (Suppl. 1), S8–S15.Google Scholar
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L. and Williams, J. B. (2001). The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16, 606–613.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B., Monahan, P. O. and Lowe, B. (2007). Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection. Annals of Internal Medicine, 146, 317–325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lunsford, S. L. et al. (2006). Racial differences in coping with the need for kidney transplantation and willingness to ask for live organ donation. American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 47, 324–331.Google Scholar
Magai, C., Kerns, M.-D., Consedine, N. S. and Fyffe, D. (2003). Depression in older ethnic groups: a test of the generality of the Social Precursors Model. Research on Aging, 25, 144–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murrell, S. A., Norris, F. H. and Hutchins, G. L. (1984). Distribution and desirability of life events in older adults: population and policy implications. Journal of Community Psychology, 12, 301–311.Google Scholar
Peel, C., Sawyer Baker, P., Roth, D. L., Brown, C. J., Brodner, E. V. and Allman, R. M. (2005). Assessing mobility in older adults: the UAB Study of Aging Life-Space Assessment. Physical Therapy, 85, 1008–1019.Google Scholar
Perneger, T. V. (1998). What's wrong with Bonferroni adjustments. BMJ, 316, 1236–1238.Google Scholar
Rabins, P. V. et al. (1996). The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in elderly residents of public housing. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences & Medical Sciences, 51, M319–M324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ramsay, S. et al. (2008). Social engagement and the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality: results of a prospective population-based study of older men. Annals of Epidemiology, 18, 476–483.Google Scholar
Robison, J. et al. (2009). Mental health in senior housing: racial/ethnic patterns and correlates of major depressive disorder. Aging and Mental Health, 13, 659–673.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simning, A., van Wijngaarden, E. and Conwell, Y. (2011a). Anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders in United States African-American public housing residents. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 46, 983–992.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simning, A., van Wijngaarden, E., Fisher, S. G., Richardson, T. M. and Conwell, Y. (2011b). Mental health care need and service utilization in older adults living in public housing. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Epublished ahead of print. doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e31822003a7.Google Scholar
Stein, D. J. (2001). Comorbidity in generalized anxiety disorder: impact and implications. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 62, 29–34.Google Scholar
US Department of Housing and Urban Development (2011). HUD's Public Housing Program. Available at: http://www.hud.gov/renting/phprog.cfm; last accessed 19 May 2011.Google Scholar
Vink, D., Aartsen, M. J. and Schoevers, R. A. (2008). Risk factors for anxiety and depression in the elderly: a review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 106, 29–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G. and Farley, G. K. (1988). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52, 30–41.Google Scholar