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Accumulated life-course adversities and depressive symptoms in later life among older men and women in England: a longitudinal study

Accumulated life-course adversities and depressive symptoms in later life among older men and women in England: a longitudinal study
Accumulated life-course adversities and depressive symptoms in later life among older men and women in England: a longitudinal study
This paper investigates the association between accumulated major lifecourse adversities and later-life depressive symptoms among older people in England, both at a single point in time (prevalence) and the onset over time during later life (incidence), using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Using retrospective data on the experience of major life adversities from childhood onwards, five latent classes were identified: no/few lifecourse adversities (58.6%), lost relationship (27.0%), chained adversities (2.4%), childhood adversities (6.3%) and war-related adversities (5.7%). Older people who had experienced ‘chained adversities’, ‘childhood adversities’ and ‘a lost relationship’ had higher odds of presenting current depressive symptoms in 2006, even after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, health-risk behaviours and social resources. Longitudinal analysis indicated that amongst respondents who were clear of depression in 2006, those older people who had experienced childhood adversities, a lost relationship and war-related adversities experienced a higher risk of having a new case of depressive symptoms. Results further indicate that women's mental health in later life is more sensitive to earlier life adversities than men's. The study shows that intervention earlier in the lifecourse may have benefits for the individual both contemporaneously and over the longer term.
England, adversity, depression, lifecourse
0144-686X
2079-2105
Falkingham, Jane
8df36615-1547-4a6d-ad55-aa9496e85519
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
Qin, Min
10d55bfb-f7e6-409a-bcc5-6d2ba1f743e8
Vlachantoni, Athina
06a52fbb-f2a0-4c81-9fbc-d6efc736c6cb
Falkingham, Jane
8df36615-1547-4a6d-ad55-aa9496e85519
Evandrou, Maria
cd2210ea-9625-44d7-b0f4-fc0721a25d28
Qin, Min
10d55bfb-f7e6-409a-bcc5-6d2ba1f743e8
Vlachantoni, Athina
06a52fbb-f2a0-4c81-9fbc-d6efc736c6cb

Falkingham, Jane, Evandrou, Maria, Qin, Min and Vlachantoni, Athina (2020) Accumulated life-course adversities and depressive symptoms in later life among older men and women in England: a longitudinal study. Ageing & Society, 40 (10), 2079-2105. (doi:10.1017/S0144686X19000461).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper investigates the association between accumulated major lifecourse adversities and later-life depressive symptoms among older people in England, both at a single point in time (prevalence) and the onset over time during later life (incidence), using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Using retrospective data on the experience of major life adversities from childhood onwards, five latent classes were identified: no/few lifecourse adversities (58.6%), lost relationship (27.0%), chained adversities (2.4%), childhood adversities (6.3%) and war-related adversities (5.7%). Older people who had experienced ‘chained adversities’, ‘childhood adversities’ and ‘a lost relationship’ had higher odds of presenting current depressive symptoms in 2006, even after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, health-risk behaviours and social resources. Longitudinal analysis indicated that amongst respondents who were clear of depression in 2006, those older people who had experienced childhood adversities, a lost relationship and war-related adversities experienced a higher risk of having a new case of depressive symptoms. Results further indicate that women's mental health in later life is more sensitive to earlier life adversities than men's. The study shows that intervention earlier in the lifecourse may have benefits for the individual both contemporaneously and over the longer term.

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Accepted/In Press date: 19 March 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 April 2019
Published date: 1 October 2020
Additional Information: Funding Information: This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council Centre for Population Change (grant number ES/K007394/1 at the University of Southampton). Publisher Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019.
Keywords: England, adversity, depression, lifecourse

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 429715
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/429715
ISSN: 0144-686X
PURE UUID: 277c84fa-7b2b-4239-afb5-99d608882aa0
ORCID for Jane Falkingham: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7135-5875
ORCID for Maria Evandrou: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-9358
ORCID for Min Qin: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5941-9979
ORCID for Athina Vlachantoni: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1539-3057

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Date deposited: 04 Apr 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:28

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