The characteristics of anxiety and depression symptom severity in older adults living in public housing.
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.
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Rochester, New York 14642, USA. adam_simning@urmc.rochester.edu
Adam
A
Simning
Yeates
Y
Conwell
Susan G
SG
Fisher
Thomas M
TM
Richardson
Edwin
E
van Wijngaarden
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011638:Public Housing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality