On becoming depressed or anxious in late life: similar vulnerability factors but different effects of stressful life events.
BACKGROUND
Little research has been done on the uniqueness of risk profiles for depression and anxiety in late life.


OBJECTIVE
Delineating risk factors for the decline of mental health in older persons, comparing risk profiles for developing symptoms of pure depression, pure anxiety and both anxiety and depression in a prospective design.


METHODS
Self-report data on depression and anxiety were collected from community-dwelling older respondents (> or = 55 years) on two occasions, 3 years apart. Data from emotionally healthy respondents (n=1810) were used to investigate the effects of long-standing vulnerability factors and stressful life events.


RESULTS
After 3 years 9% of the subjects had scored beyond the thresholds for symptoms. Vulnerability for depression and anxiety was quite similar, but life events differed: onset of depression was predicted by death of a partner or other relatives; onset of anxiety was best predicted by having a partner who developed a major illness. No support for moderator effects between vulnerability factors and stress was found; the effects were purely additive.


CONCLUSIONS
Depression and anxiety have many risk factors in common, but specific risk factors also were found, especially in subjects developing both depression and anxiety.
de Beurs
E
E
Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine & Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Beekman
A
A
Geerlings
S
S
Deeg
D
D
Van Dyck
R
R
Van Tilburg
W
W
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies